Rachmaninov's opera "Monna Vanna" remained unfinished because the playwright Maurice Maeterlinck had already granted operatic rights to another composer, Henry Février, making Rachmaninov's version unproducible in most of Europe.
Recording & Production
The songs on this album were recorded in Järvenpää Hall, Finland, in September 2013, using a 24-bit DXD (Digital Extreme Definition) recording format.
Composer Biography
Sergei Rachmaninov, the composer, took the unfinished score of "Monna Vanna" with him into exile in the USA after the 1917 Russian Revolution, indicating his high regard for the work.
Compositional Technique
Rachmaninov's "Vocalise," Op. 34/14, is conceived as a single huge melodic paragraph, demonstrating the power of melody without words and featuring a Bach-like serenity with Russian inflections.
Composition History
The orchestration of Act I of Rachmaninov's "Monna Vanna" heard on this CD was made by Gennady Belov, a contemporary orchestrator.
Performer Biography
Vladimir Ashkenazy, the conductor and pianist on this album, is one of the few artists to have combined successful careers as both a pianist and a conductor, gaining prominence in the 1950s.
