Rachmaninov: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1-2 & The Isle of the Dead

Featuring

Boris Giltburg
Sergei Rachmaninoff

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Composition History

Rachmaninov's First Piano Sonata was originally about ten minutes longer, and he shortened it by 110 bars in the first and last movements on the advice of contemporaries like Nikolay Medtner and Konstantin Igumnov.

Compositional Technique

Rachmaninov's First Piano Sonata was conceived with a program based on three characters from Goethe's Faust: Faust, Gretchen, and Mephistopheles, with each movement representing one character.

Compositional Technique

The Isle of the Dead uses an irregular 5/8 meter to evoke the pattern of a rowing stroke, and features the Dies irae motif, a medieval plainchant that was a recurring obsession for Rachmaninov.

Composer Biography

Rachmaninov composed his Piano Sonata No. 1 in Dresden, alongside his Second Symphony and the unfinished opera Monna Vanna.

Composition History

Rachmaninov extensively revised his Second Piano Sonata in 1931, cutting over a fifth of its length and rewriting significant portions to achieve leaner textures and a more cohesive plot line.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Rachmaninov's symphonic poem The Isle of the Dead was inspired by a black-and-white print of Arnold Böcklin's painting, and the composer was disappointed when he later saw a color original.

Performer Biography

Pianist Boris Giltburg is a leading interpreter of Rachmaninov, having released an acclaimed concerto cycle and winning awards like the Opus Klassik Award for Best Soloist Recording for his Rachmaninov works.