RACHMANINOV: Piano Concertos; Paganini Rhapsody – Stephen Hough, Dallas Symphony, Andrew Litton (2 CDS) Hyperion

Piano Concerto No 1 in F sharp minor Op 1[25’53]
CD1
1
Vivace[12’27]
2
Andante[5’39]
3
Allegro vivace[7’47]
Piano Concerto No 4 in G minor Op 40[24’31]
4
Allegro vivace[9’03]
5
Largo[6’22]
6
Allegro vivace[9’06]
Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini Op 43[23’31]
7
No 1, Introduction: Allegro vivace[0’09]
8
No 2 Variation 1: Precedente[0’19]
9
No 3, Theme: L’istesso tempo[0’18]
10
No 4 Variation 2: L’istesso tempo[0’17]
11
No 5 Variation 3: L’istesso tempo[0’23]
12
No 6 Variation 4: Più vivo[0’27]
13
No 7 Variation 5: Tempo precedente[0’27]
14
No 8 Variation 6: L’istesso tempo[1’05]
15
No 9 Variation 7: Meno mosso, a tempo moderato[1’05]
16
No 10 Variation 8: Tempo I[0’32]
17
No 11 Variation 9: L’istesso tempo[0’30]
18
No 12 Variation 10: Poco marcato[0’48]
19
No 13 Variation 11: Moderato[1’26]
20
No 14 Variation 12: Tempo di minuetto[1’23]
21
No 15 Variation 13: Allegro[0’27]
22
No 16 Variation 14: L’istesso tempo[0’42]
23
No 17 Variation 15: Più vivo scherzando[1’09]
24
No 18 Variation 16: Allegretto[1’40]
25
No 19 Variation 17: [Allegretto][2’12]
26
No 20 Variation 18: Andante cantabile[2’57]
27
No 21 Variation 19: A tempo vivace[0’26]
28
No 22 Variation 20: Un poco più vivo[0’34]
29
No 23 Variation 21: Un poco più vivo[0’25]
30
No 24 Variation 22: Un poco più vivo (Alla breve)[1’37]
31
No 25 Variation 23: L’istesso tempo[0’50]
32
No 26 Variation 24: A tempo un poco meno mosso[1’23]
Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor Op 18[32’18]
CD2
33
Moderato[9’54]
34
Adagio sostenuto – Più animato – Tempo I[11’02]
35
Allegro scherzando[11’22]
Piano Concerto No 3 in D minor Op 30[38’17]
36
Allegro ma non tanto[15’01]
37
Intermezzo: Adagio –[9’55]
38
Finale: Alla breve[13’21]

Ever since we started working with Stephen in 1996 recording these concertos has been on the agenda: it’s probably been the project closest to his heart. But it took several years before we found the orchestra and conductor that we felt would do justice to this important project.

The combination of Dallas and Litton offers a conductor who adores Rachmaninov (he has recorded all the symphonies) and understands the works from a pianist’s perspective, an orchestra with a glorious and old-fashioned string sound of the kind with which the composer would be familiar, a hall to record in which is one of the best in the world, and let’s not forget Stephen Hough who has already won two Gramophone ‘Record of the Year’ accolades for his concerto recordings. As the results here triumphantly show, all our hopes have been fulfilled, and more.

Apart from the ‘Paganini Rhapsody’, recorded after a concert performance, these are essentially ‘live’ recordings. Over a period of eighteen days eleven concerts were given, with each concerto being played several times. From these we have pieced together an ‘ideal’ performance—free of coughs, noises and the few musical mishaps which occurred, but still capturing the excitement of what was, by common consent, a sensational series of concerts.

These days a new recording of the Rachmaninov concertos has to be very special for it to be worth doing at all and it was not lightly that Hyperion proceeded with this project. Stephen’s very conscious return to the fast and lean performance tradition of the composer himself, avoiding the sentimental ‘Hollywood’ approach that has become so prevalent, coupled with the supreme level of the performances themselves has truly created a Rachmaninov cycle for the new millennium!