IDAGIO | Tchaikovsky - Rachmaninoff: Songs 0710357635021

Featuring

Lyubov Petrova
Vladimir Feltsman
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Sergei Rachmaninoff

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Historical Context

Vladimir Feltsman was banned from public performance and had his recordings suppressed in the Soviet Union after applying for an exit visa in 1979, experiencing eight years of artistic exile before being granted permission to leave.

Performer Biography

Pianist and conductor Vladimir Feltsman, born in Moscow in 1952, debuted with the Moscow Philharmonic at age 11 and won the Grand Prix at the Marguerite Long International Piano Competition in Paris in 1971.

Compositional Technique

For his Op. 34 songs, Rachmaninoff drew on great Russian Romantic poets and tailored simple vocal lines for specific Russian singers like Chaliapin, Litvin, Sobinov, and Nezdanova.

Performer Biography

Lyubov Petrova, a soprano, made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos and has performed numerous other roles there.

Composer Biography

Rachmaninoff published 83 songs, but after leaving Russia in 1917, he completed only six significant works during his 26 years of exile.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Tchaikovsky's songs, unlike his orchestral works, do not aim for musical illustration but rather devise musical motifs to support the stress and intonation of the text.

Compositional Technique

Rachmaninoff's songs are noted for their innate sensitivity to mood and the perfect balance between voice and piano, with the piano often echoing the text's sentiments.