RACHMANINOV : The Complete Works (2014) 32xCD BOX-SET | APE (image+.cue), lossless

Presented on 32 discs in a sturdy box set, Rachmaninov: The Complete Works consists of the piano concertos, solo piano compositions, transcriptions, chamber pieces, symphonies, and other orchestral works, as well as the operas, songs, and choral music, all drawn from Decca's vast catalog. The roster of performers impresses with its variety, and the piano music especially benefits from the number of artists involved, which includes Martha Argerich, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Nelson Freire, Mikhail Pletnev, Zoltán Kocsis, Byron Janis, Alexis Weissenberg, Alexander Ghindin, Sviatoslav Richter, and Jorge Bolet, among others. The orchestral performances are led by such eminent conductors as Ashkenazy (in his second career as a conductor), André Previn, Neeme Järvi, Riccardo Chailly, Kirill Kondrashin, Walter Weller, Edo de Waart, and Charles Dutoit. The set also includes bonuses: The Ampico Recordings, which were taken from piano rolls Rachmaninov made between 1919 and 1929; and an interview, "Rachmaninov: Vladimir Ashkenazy and Rob Cowan Discuss the Russian Romantic." Fans of Rachmaninov's intensely passionate music will find this set essential and a lot more practical to buy in one shot than to acquire the CDs separately. However, many collectors will already own a few of these classic recordings, so the prospect of duplication is great. Blair Sanderson
Tracklist:
CD1
24 Preludes
Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano
CD2
Michail Pletnev piano
Zoltán Kocsis piano
CD3
Jorge Bolet piano
Alexis Weissenberg piano
CD4
Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano
with André Previn, piano/ Vovka Ashkenazy, piano
CD5
Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano
CD6
Transcriptions
Original Compositions:
CD7
Fantaisie-tableaux (Suite No.1) for two pianos, op.5
Suite No.2 for two pianos, op.17
Symphonic Dances for two pianos, op.45
CD8
Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano
CD9
Heinrich Schiff cello (1-4)
Lynn Harrell, cello (5 9)
Elisabeth Leonskaja, piano (1-4)
Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano (5 9)
Peter Jablonski, piano (10-12)
CD10
Beaux Arts Trio
CD11
Dene Olding, violin
Joan Rodgers, soprano?
CD12
Songs I
Elisabeth Söderström (soprano)
Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano)
CD13
Songs II
Elisabeth Söderström (soprano)
Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano)
CD14
Songs III
Elisabeth Söderström (soprano)
Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano)
CD15
Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano
London Symphony Orchestra/André Previn
CD16
Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano
London Symphony Orchestra/André Previn
CD17
Alexander Ghindin, piano
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra / Vladimir Ashkenazy
CD18
Tracks 1-4: Symphony No.1 in D minor, op.13
Tracks 5-7: Symphonic Dances, op.45
CD19
London Philharmonic Orchestra / Walter Weller
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra / Edo de Waart
CD20
Natalia Troitskaya, soprano+ / Ryszard Karczykowski, tenor / Tom Krause, baritone
Chorus of the Concertgebouw Orchestra
Concertgebouw Orchestra / Vladimir Ashkenazy
CD21
Sydney Symphony / Vladimir Ashkenazy
The Philadelphia Orchestra / Charles Dutoit
CD22
Prague Philharmonic Choir / Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano & conductor)
CD23
Tracks 1-18: Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, op.31
CD24
Tracks 1-15: Vespers (All-Night Vigil) (Vsenoshchnoye Bdeniye), op.37
CD25
Tracks 1 4: Monna Vanna, Act One
CD26
Tracks 1-13: Aleko
CD27
Tracks 1 18: The Miserly Knight, op.24
CD28
Tracks 1 25: Francesca da Rimini, op.25
CD29
Piano Concertos Nos. 1&2
CD30
Piano Concertos Nos. 3&4
CD31
The Ampico Recordings
Rachmaninov Transcriptions:
CD32
The Real Rachmaninov
Vladimir Ashkenazy and Rob Cowan discuss the Russian Romantic

Béla Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin (Version for Piano Duet) / Arnold Schoenberg: Kammersymphonie No. 1 Op. 9 (Version for Piano Duet) [Kocsis-Hauser] Harmonia Mundi 1903021 / 1991 / FLAC

This poorly listed item is the harmonia mundi release, recorded in 1989 and first released with a purple background cover in 1991. What brilliance it contains! The Miraculous Mandarin is rarely played in this form for piano duet, but it sounds fantastically vivid. The story is maximally unpleasant, but somehow in ballet this seems to matter less than in opera, the stylisation actually allows for a wider range of expression that doesn't alienate the audience. To hear it on the piano makes it seem further still from the action, although you do feel a narrative drive. The notes give the plot in Bartok's own succinct summary. Much of the music is savage - as untrammelled as anything Bartok wrote - but it is superbly exciting. The Kammersinfonie Op. 9 by Schoenberg transposes the fierceness to the sense of musical development, based on a series of rising fourths and being in a constant state of flux and transformation. It falls somewhere between Strauss and Bartok - a profusion of notes, wonderfully sprung between intellectual thought and Romantic emotion. Zoltan Kocsis and Adrienne Hauser make a totally inspired duo, and the recording is admirably clear and immediate. The cover painting by Alexei von Jawlensky prepares one for the expressionistic onslaught of the Bartok and the hallucinogenic emotions of both works.

Béla Bartók [1881-1945]

The Miraculous Mandarin (Version for Piano Duet)

Arnold Schoenberg [1974-1951]

Kammersymphonie No. 1 Op. 9 (Version for Piano Duet)

Zoltán Kocsis, Piano

Adrienne Hauser, Piano

Harmonia Mundi 1903021 

O Púbis da Rosa