Piano Works – Transcriptions

The most complete collection of Rachmaninoff’s output ever assembled in one box set. As well as the piano concertos and preludes, this collection includes his many songs and three operas, which are far less known. The performers on this set are drawn from both sides of the divide: Earl Wild plays the piano concertos, while the equally maverick conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky masterminds the symphonies. The Borodin Trio play the two impassioned piano trios, while another American virtuoso, Garrick Ohlsson, tackles the many transcriptions that the composer made of Chopin, Bach and others, with the major piano works (the sonatas, preludes and étudestableaux) played by Santiago Rodriguez and Nikolai Lugansky. New recordings of early piano pieces were commissioned especially for this set. The set includes three discs of ‘historic’ performances, which feature a selection of piano concertos and solo works played by some of the great Rachmaninoff pianists; Emil Gilels, Vladimir Horowitz, Sviatoslav Richter and, inevitably, the composer himself. Extended introduction to the composer and his work by the Rachmaninoff authority Julian Haylock on a bonus CD-ROM.