All of Rachmaninov’s music - from his earliest student compositions to his final masterpieces – has been collected together for the first time on 32 CDs, in what is definitively the most complete and comprehensive edition of Rachmaninov’s works ever released.
COMPLETE AND COMPREHENSIVE. Even includes the popular and treasured recordings made by Rachmaninov himself - The Ampico Recordings. These are recordings from piano rolls of Rachmaninov as a pianist, featuring many small works and transcriptions made between 1919 and 1929.
LEGENDARY PIANO CONCERTO RECORDINGS and a RARITY. Five CDs in the set are dedicated to the works that secured Rachmaninov his household name – the Piano Concertos. Four legendary recordings of the Piano Concertos with different pianists
o No. 1 - Byron Janis,
o No. 2- Sviatoslav Richter,
o No. 3 - Martha Argerich
o No. 4 - Zoltán Kocsis
o Plus the 2001 recording of the original versions of Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 4, performed by Alexander Ghindin (CD 17 - licensed from Ondine). Further rarities include the original 1913 version of Piano Sonata No. 2 (CD 4).
o Vladimir Ashkenazy’s famous recordings of all Four Piano Concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra and Andre Prévin (CDs 16-17): “From Ashkenazy, every page declares Rachmaninov’s nationality, his indelibly Russian nature… Prévin works hand in glove with his soloist… the product of the greatest musical sympathy.” Gramophone
TOP-FLIGHT ARTISTS. The set benefits from Decca’s enormously distinguished artist roster and includes performances many of the 20th century’s great interpeters. The artistic backbone of the set is provided by Vladimir Ashkenazy. Considered the pre-eminent interpreter of Rachmaninov’s music, Ashkenazy has championed it since the outset of his career, and he is the only musician to record all of the composer’s piano works. In this set, he is also heard as accompanist (notably with soprano Elisabeth Söderström in three CDs of Songs), but also as conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Artists
Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano), Mikhail Pletnev (piano), Zoltán Kocsis (piano), Jorge Bolet (piano), Alexis Weissenberg (piano), André Previn (piano), Vovka Ashkenazy (piano), Nelson Freire (piano), Heinrich Schiff (cello), Elisabeth Leonskaja (piano), Lynn Harrell (cello), Peter Jablonski (piano), Dene Olding (violin), Joan Rodgers (soprano), Elisabeth Söderström (soprano), Ryszard Karcykowski (tenor), Sergei Leiferkus, Olga Borodina (mezzo), Sherrill Milnes, John Thorsteinsson, Nickolas Karousatos, Seth McCoy, Blythe Walker, Maria Guleghina, Ilya Levinsky, Anatolij Kotscherga, Sergej Larin, Sergei Aleksashkin, Vladimir Chernov, Dody Ashkenazy (piano), Alastair Mackie (trumpet), Alexander Ghindin (piano), Byron Janis (piano), Sviatoslav Richter (piano), Martha Argerich (piano), Sergei Rachmaninov (piano)
Beaux Arts Trio, Goldner String Quartet, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Chorus of the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Prague Philharmonic Choir, Choral Arts Society Of Philadelphia, Russian State Symphony Cappella, Vocal Ensemble C Sharp Minor, St. Petersburg Chamber Choir, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Göteborgs Symfoniker, Gothenburg Opera Chorus, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, San Francisco Symphony, Walter Weller, Edo de Waart, Charles Dutoit, Valeri Polyansky, Elger Niels, Nikolai Korniev, Igor Buketoff, Neeme Järvi, Kirill Kondrashin, Stanislaw Wislocki, Riccardo Chailly
