BaL 29.01.22 - Rachmaninov: Piano Sonata no. 2 in B flat minor (Op. 36)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

09.30
Rachmaninov’s 2nd Piano Sonata with Lucy Parham in Building a Library

Sergei Rachmaninov’s Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 36, in B-flat minor was composed in 1913 and revised it in 1931. Three years after his third piano concerto was finished, he moved with his family to Rome and started working on his second piano sonata. It is a mighty but technically challenging piece. Rachmaninov himself was not satisfied with the work and revised it in 1931. In 1940, the pianist Vladimir Horowitz created his own edition which combined elements of both previous versions.

Available versions:-

Nareh Arghamanyan
Vladimir Ashkenazy
Sonya Bach
Jason Bae
MinJung Baek *
Antonii Baryshevskyi
Idil Biret
John Browning
Yulia Chaplina
Moye Chen
Rufus Choi *
Van Cliburn *
Van Cliburn (DVD)
Jean-Philippe Collard *
Bogdan Czapiewski *
Ran Dank *
Sergei Dukachev
Jeremy Filsell
Sergio Fiorentino
Alissa Firsova
Grace Francis
Jean-Paul Gasparian
Petras Geniushas
Boris Giltburg
Olga Georgievskaya
Bernd Glemser
Nelson Goerner *
Helene Grimaud
Helene Grimaud
Rustem Hayroudinoff
Nigel Hill
Nicholas Ho *
Vladimir Horowitz *
Vladimir Horowitz *
Vladimir Horowitz *
Vladimir Horowitz *
Vladimir Horowitz *
Vladimir Horowitz *
Leslie Howard
Ching-Yun Hu *
Amanda Hurton *
Stanislav Ioudenitch *
Mariana Izman
Peter Jablonski
Lydia Jardon *
Martin Kasik
Yakov Kasman *
Freddy Kempf
Olga Kern *
Martin Klett
Alexander Kobrin *
Zoltán Kocsis
Michael Korstick
Adrienne Krausz
Tkaczewski Krystian
Ruth Laredo
Alain Lefèvre
Simone Leitão *
Polina Leschenko (SACD)
Daumants Liepin�
John Lill
Nikolai Lugansky *
Oleg Marshev
Denis Matsuev *
Dudana Mazmanishvili
Alessandro Mazzamuto (SACD)
Zora Mihailovich
Laura Mikkola
Eugene Mursky *
Soheil Nasseri *
Sandro Nebieridze
Andrei Nikolsky *
John Ogdon *
Steven Osborne
Marietta Petkova *
Maxim Philippov
Artur Pizarro
Karine Poghosyan *
Ivo Pogorelich *
Antonio Pompa-Baldi *
Michael Ponti *
Vassily Primakov
Santiago Rodriguez
Evgenia Rubinova
Olga Rusina *
Konstantin Scherbakov
Sona Shaboyan *
Howard Shelley *
Wen-Yu Shen
Dmitry Shishkin *
Konrad Skolarski *
Vesselin Stanev *
Paul Strecker
Yevgeny Sudbin (SACD)
Hai-Kyung Suh *
Yekwon Sunwoo
Gunilla Sussmann *
Kateryna Titova *
David Tong
Simon Trpceski *
Mayron Tsong
Kasparas Uinskas
Anna Vinnitskaya *
Alexei Volodin *
Anastasia Voltchok
Xiayin Wang
Alexis Weissenberg
Joyce Yang
Emre Yavuz
Mikhail Yurkhov *


(* = download only)

[Ein Heldenleben]

Wonder which version they’ll hone in on? Ever had a go at playing it Alps ?
I think it’s a ABRSM fellowship piece. I’ve had a few stabs at the “big tune “ but you need very powerful fingers to get anywhere near what’s needed. The coda ? Strewth !
The most difficult mainstream (i.e diatonic and regularly played ) sonata ?

[gurnemanz]

They had a choice for each version in 2006
Kocsis playing original version. Also Penguin Rosette. https://www.prestomusic.com/classica...ys-rachmaninov
Trpceski for 1931 version.

[BBMmk2]

I have Steven Osborne, I’m sure I also have Ashkenazy, somewhere

[Barbirollians]

Freddy Kempf and Kocsis are both excellent in the 1913 version - I like Sudbin in his as played by Horowitz version.

[Pianorak]

Gordon Fergus-Thompson (original 1913 version) Kingdom (rec. 1987)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

On now

[BBMmk2]

On now

I’m surprised there’s not more contributions here to one of Rachmaninov’s masterpieces for the piano.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I’m surprised there’s not more contributions here to one of Rachmaninov’s masterpieces for the piano.

The problem about commenting is that just about every pianist she is playing is absolutely wonderful. I wish I could play this piece . But what is Horowitz up to …making it up a bit !
Looks like Lugansky will carry the palm. He’s pretty much become Radio Three’s in-house Rach pianist…

[Ein Heldenleben]

I reckon there’s an edit in that Giltberg coda. Unlike the reviewers I don’t like the halting agogics . It’s sounds like he’s having to prepare and Boris G has the technique not to do that …
Lugansky it is .. that coda was absolutely amazing. The finger strength …strewth..

[DoctorT]

Has anyone tried to source a hard copy of the Lugansky? Seems to be unavailable

[Keraulophone]

Lugansky it is...

Lugansky, followed by Kocsis at 24'29 (with the score).

https://youtu.be/C_lOOYSzoBc

.

[visualnickmos]

Has anyone tried to source a hard copy of the Lugansky? Seems to be unavailable

Yes; tried everywhere!

[Bryn]

Yes; tried everywhere!

Looks like a download, under £8 for CD rate and burn to CD-R or around £11 for hi-res and no wasted polycarbonate.

[LeMartinPecheur]

The problem about commenting is that just about every pianist she is playing is absolutely wonderful.

That was EH's reply to BBMmk2's query on the lack of comments to the thread. One might say that there are at least estimable traversals she didn't mention, and any that manages just to play all the notes and shape them coherently is going to be worth a listen in such a complex and rich work. Freddy Kempf gets a thumbs-up above from Barbirollians and it's on my shelves, along with the old CBS Horowitz, Ashkenazy and John Ogdon. The old argument about whether there is such a thing as a 'best version' of any work is surely particularly acute in this sonata.