Rachmaninoff Edition: Complete [Box set]

The days are long gone (except among a few pseudo-intellectuals) when Rachmaninoff was written off as a lightweight, pops composer - as an old edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music& Musicians notoriously did. Grove's statement that the popularity of a few of Rachmaninoff's compositions would not last has been resoundingly disproven. Not only are the old warhorses - the Second Symphony, Second Piano Concerto, and Paganini Rhapsody - as popular as ever, but many of Rachmaninoff's previously obscure works have entered the standard repertoire. But this set from Brilliant Classics marks the first time a complete edition of Rachmaninoff's works has been released. It's long overdue.

To put something front and center: as with many complete editions, very few of the performances in this edition can be considered reference recordings. But nearly all are on a high level and in acceptable sound - and a few works in this collection have never been recorded before. I will parenthetically suggest alternative recordings to those in this set that are not fully satisfactory.

Concertos: All four concertos and the Paganini Rhapsody are from Earl Wild's renowned set with the Royal Philharmonic under Jascha Horenstein - recorded in the 1960s for Reader's Digest. Wild was a pianist of virtuoso technique coupled with a disciplined temperament (as was the composer himself). His performances are appropriately exciting and ardently romantic, without resorting to gushing - they never cross the line from emotion to sentimentality.

Orchestral works: All the symphonies here are conducted by Rozhdestvensky. The 1st & 3rd stem from live concerts with the USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra. The disastrous premier of Symphony No. 1 plunged Rachmaninoff into a depression which required hypnosis to cure. The leading critic of the time condemned the work as too dissonant - and many performances of the symphony sound bombastic. Here, the work emerges as more yearning than vengeful, marking Rachmaninoff as the true successor to Tchaikovsky. Despite some out of tune woodwinds at the start of the 3rd Symphony, the piece is presented with ardor, the balance often highlighting the modern aspects of the work, which most performances try to gloss over. But 10 minutes into the first movement, there's a sudden reduction in volume, where it remains for the rest of the symphony. The last movement is noteworthy for the extreme variations in tempo between the dramatic and lyrical sections - at times things come to a near halt before speeding off again. The composer's own recording of the 3rd Symphony, with the Philadelphia Orchestra, is mandatory listening. The 2nd Symphony is played by the London Symphony Orchestra, a step up technically from its USSR counterpart. The sound is unusually clear without being overly immediate, so listeners can hear Rachmaninoff's interweaving harmonic-polyphonic lines. The snag here is the scherzo, where the conductor's rather sluggish tempo prevents things from getting off the ground. But the slow movement redeems everything thanks to a particularly loving clarinet solo - making the performance worthy of recommendation. I also recommend Pletnev in this symphony.)

The Symph0nic Dances and the Bells - both masterpieces by any reasonable measure - are with the Russian State Symphony Orchestra under Polyanskii. In the Dances, the conductor takes his time in the ghostly waltzing second movement, which is unusually flexible and evocative here. The soloists in the Bells are spot-miked, and their placement changes, which is distracting. But the four movements are presented with a straight interpretation, the orchestra plays with refinement, and both solo and choir singing is fine.

Piano works: The bulk of solo piano music is played by Santiago Rodriguez, and in many ways represents the high point of the set. That point's peak is the Corelli Variations - once a forgotten work but now common among Rachmaninoff players. Rodriguez's performance captures the works rapidly shifting moods (reverent, mysterious, sardonic, virtuosic, warmly romantic) more effectively than many other recordings I've heard, including Grimaud, Laredo, Pletnev, Thibaudet, and Watts - yet structural continuity is never sacrificed. Both sets of Preludes are appropriately brooding, lyrical, or stormy - as the music requires. What impresses me most about Rodriguez's Preludes is how he's able to broadly characterize them without allowing them to descend into schmaltz. He's less successful in the 2nd Sonata, which comes off as sectionalized, but the 1st Sonata sweeps all criticism aside. All of Rodriguez's contributions are exceptionally well recorded. In the Etudes-Tableaux, Nikolai Lugansky eschews virtuoso fireworks in favor of pathos and meditative reflection. This works for the lyrical pieces, but the more dramatic ones lack thrust and drive. There is also a disc of miscellaneous short piano works that's a mixed bag, with some rather colorless run-throughs by Michael Ponti that are poorly recorded. The piano duet pieces are given in warmly expressive, unhurried performances by Julien Thurber and Ingryd Thorson.

Chamber music: Rachmaninoff's entire output of chamber music can easily fit onto two CDs. The two Trios élégiaque are offered in ardently poetic performances by the Borodin trio. The Cello Sonata is in a serviceable performance by Daniil Shafran and Yakov Flier - unfortunately recorded in mono sound. Surely, Brilliant could have licensed a modern recording of this piece.

Opera & Vocal music: I will confess that I am not a great fan of opera, and I have never heard these works before, so I can't compare them with other renditions. All of Rachmaninoff's four operas (including the unfinished Monna Vanna) are on the brief side, fitting onto one CD each. The performances in this set are well sung and accompanied. The vocal highlights here are the performances of All-Night Vigil (Vespers) and Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom - the latter was condemned for its "spirit of modernism" and fell into obscurity until it was reconstructed in 1988. Both works, acapella, are performed with purity and transparency - the perfect antidote for those who label Rachmaninoff as a "Hollywood" composer (whatever that means, as Rachmaninoff was well established long before Hollywood was). The three discs of songs are a mix of solo and multiple voices, with either piano or orchestral accompaniment.

A slight caveat here: This set could be regarded as not quite complete, as the Third Concerto is cut and the Second Sonata is presented in the shortened 1931 revision. For a more complete performance of the 3rd Concerto, I recommend Horacio Gutiérrez. Van Cliburn made an excellent recording of the original version of the 2nd Sonata, but neither the original nor the revised really works as well as Horowitz's fusion of the two versions.)

The set totals 28 CDs, and there is an additional CD-ROM which includes the liner notes. There is an alternative version of this set which adds historical recordings by Horowitz and the composer. But due to the cost differential, I recommend this set, with the additional items obtained separately.

Nearly 30 disks for less than $65.00! And it contains compositions by Rachmaninoff (and no one else) that I have never before heard, including his Youth Symphony (11 minutes long) and the opera Monna Vanna. You need to be quite a fan of Rachmaninoff's music to buy this huge collection, so of course I did so. I've listened to the first ten disks and am dissatisfied --- only slightly --- with the performance of the Fourth Concerto. I recommend this collection as a must-have for any serious Rachmaninoff collector.

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