Saturday 19 June 2021

Scriabin and Rachmaninoff on the Yamaha S7X

A few snippets of Scriabin sonata 3 and Rachmaninoff piano concerto 2 on my new Yamaha S7X.

Saturday 25 July 2020

Finale of Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto.

The famous finale of Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto, played with the "music minus one" recording of the orchestra.

Monday 29 June 2020

Thursday 9 October 2014

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 3

A recording of the beautiful piano solo from the first movement of Rachmaninoff's 3rd piano concerto. I actually have a recording of the orchestra for this piece (without the piano). I'd love to record myself playing with the orchestra, but I haven't yet figured out the best way to put them together. It's especially tricky because the recorded orchestra doesn't take cues from the pianist anymore.

Wednesday 24 September 2014

Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto 3 (again)

The third concerto again! This time we have a recording of the beginning section of the second movement. This piece would really benefit from being performed on a concert grand piano for the power and clarity in the bass section.

Tuesday 23 September 2014

Scriabin preludes

Scriabin was a Russian composer who might be described as a modern version of Chopin. Although many people are fond of the well-trodden works of Chopin, it is a pity that relatively few are aware of Scriabin. I decided to upload a few very pretty preludes of his. Here is Op.11 No.15. Check my videos section for the others!

Monday 22 September 2014

The Night Wind Sonata

Nikolai Medtner was one of the great composer-pianists, and the lesser-known compatriot and colleague of Rachmaninoff. Both of them staunchly disavowed the modernisation of music. That Medtner never enjoyed the popularity of his loyal supporter is, not unduly, attributed to the unrelenting complexity and intense character of his works.

Still, whether or not one is drawn to his chosen aesthetic, it cannot be denied that he was a composer of great skill and dedication. And that brings us to perhaps his greatest creation - the mighty Night Wind Sonata. Monolithic, tumultuous and brooding. And a spectacular, explosive testament to Russian piano virtuosity.

I'm hoping to post a proper recording of this sonata in the future. In the meantime, here is a little teaser of the piece which I used to test my recording equipment.