konstantin scherbakov

MODEST MUSSORGSKY (1839-1881)
Recorded live at: Endler Hall, Stellenbosch University,
Pictures of an Exhibition
South Africa, 13 February 2011
1
1:26
Promenade
Artist: Konstantin Scherbakov (piano)
2
2:29
I. Gnomus
Produced by: Luis Magalhães
3
0:41
Promenade
Balance engineer: Gerhard Roux
4
4:32
II. ll vecchio castello
Piano tuner: W. Heuer Musikhaus
5
0:23
Promenade
Edited and Mixed by: Gerhard Roux
6
0:58
III. Tuileries
Assistant: Leon van Zyl
7
2:51
IV. Bydlo
Program notes: Barry Ross
8
0:40
Promenade
Mastered by: Tim Lengfeld
9
1:14
V. Ballet of the Chickens in their Shells
Cover Photo: Juri Junkov
10 2:17
VI. Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle
Booklet Photos: Juri Junkov, Riekert Cloete
11 1:16
Promenade
Graphic Design: Glitz-design
12 1:22
VII. Limoges - The Market Place
13 1:21
VIII. Catacombæ
14 2:14
Cum mortius in Lingua morta
15 3:08
IX. The Hut on Fowls’ Legs, “Baba Yaga”
16 4:39
X. The Great Gate of Kiev
KONSTANTIN SCHERBAKOV
SOIRÉE RUSSE
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF (1873-1943)
17 5:05
Elegy E flat minor op.3 no.1
18 3:03
Prelude E flat major op.23 no.6
19 3:17
Prelude in D minor op.23 no.3
20 4:57
Etude-tableaux in E flat minor op.39 no.5
SERGEI PROKOFIEFF (1891-1953)
Sonata no.7 op.83
21 7:30
Allegro inquieto
22 6:27
Andante caloroso
23 3:56
Precipitato
TOTAL: 66:30
booklet konstantin.indd Spread 1 of 8 - Pages(16, 1)
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Made in Austria. TP1039114
06/03/12 10:13
Philharmonics of the Nations, Munich Symphony, George
Enescu Philharmonic Bucharest, Weimarer Staatskapelle,
Born in Barnaul, Russia Konstantin Scherbakov
Sofia Philharmonic, Bach Collegium Munich, Montreal
made his debut with the philharmonic orchestra of his
Symphony, New Zealand Symphony, Singapore Symphony,
native town at the age of 11, performing Beethoven
Ukrainian and Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestras,
Piano Concerto No. 1. Soon after, he moved to
Ulster Orchestra, Wiener Kammerorchester etc. In 2002,
Moscow to continue his musical education at the
he started his collaboration with the Milan orchestra “I
Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire with the legendary
Pomeriggi Musicali” and Orchestra da Camera di Padova
professor Lev Naumov. The triumphant winner of the 1.
performing as a soloist and conductor.
Rachmaninoff Competition in 1983, Konstantin Scherbakov
Konstantin Scherbakov’s constantly growing
performed with all the leading orchestras of the former
discography comprises 34 CDs featuring around 300 titles.
Soviet Union, and played recitals in more than 100 cities
Many recordings received prizes and awards such as Preis
in all republics of his native country. After winning an
der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik and the Cannes Classical
array of prizes at prestigious international competitions
Award. The pianist was one of the first artists signed by
(Montreal, Bolzano, Rome, Zurich), Scherbakov launched
EMI Classics for their Debut-Series. In 1995 he became a
his international career in 1990 at the XXth Chamber
“BBC International Artist”.
Music Festival of Asolo, where he performed the complete
During the 2010-2011 season Konstantin Scherbakov
gave his debut on the South American continent playing
with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra and a recital in
Rachmaninoff’s works for piano solo in four recitals, to the
manifest approval of Sviatoslav Richter.
Since 1992 Konstantin Scherbakov has lived with his
Buenos Aires, his schedule included also a concerto
family in Switzerland. Much of his time he spends in Spain
appearance in Sao Paulo with the Sao Paulo Symphony
and in Russia.
Orchestra, he returned to Korea with the Prague Radio-
booklet konstantin.indd Spread 2 of 8 - Pages(2, 15)
France, Taiwan, Japan and Italy.
Since 1998 the pianist has been professor at the
Symphony Orchestra following his highly successful
Zurich University of the Arts. He is a jury member in
debut concerto tour of the country with the Moscow
major international competitions (such as ARD Munich,
Philharmonics in 2010. One of the highlights of the last
Busoni in Bolzano, Liszt in Weimar, and among others
season (2011-2012) was a concert with the Weimarer
Rio de Janeiro, Seoul, Havana etc.) and he regularly
Staatskapelle under Christian Thielemann in Weimar - a
holds master classes all over the world (Germany, Italy,
live broadcast performance of Liszt’s works dedicated to
Switzerland, New Zealand, Singapore, Cuba, Russia, South
the European Liszt 200-Anniversary Day. In his agenda
Africa, Brazil, Japan). Many of his students won prizes
there are also solo performances in Zurich, New York, in
and awards at international competitions, most recently
Germany and South Africa, a recital tour of Korea, Japan
Yulianna Avdeeva, the winner of the last International
and China and festivals appearances in Switzerland,
Chopin Competition in Warsaw 2010.
06/03/12 10:13
Philharmonics of the Nations, Munich Symphony, George
Enescu Philharmonic Bucharest, Weimarer Staatskapelle,
Born in Barnaul, Russia Konstantin Scherbakov
Sofia Philharmonic, Bach Collegium Munich, Montreal
made his debut with the philharmonic orchestra of his
Symphony, New Zealand Symphony, Singapore Symphony,
native town at the age of 11, performing Beethoven
Ukrainian and Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestras,
Piano Concerto No. 1. Soon after, he moved to
Ulster Orchestra, Wiener Kammerorchester etc. In 2002,
Moscow to continue his musical education at the
he started his collaboration with the Milan orchestra “I
Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire with the legendary
Pomeriggi Musicali” and Orchestra da Camera di Padova
professor Lev Naumov. The triumphant winner of the 1.
performing as a soloist and conductor.
Rachmaninoff Competition in 1983, Konstantin Scherbakov
Konstantin Scherbakov’s constantly growing
performed with all the leading orchestras of the former
discography comprises 34 CDs featuring around 300 titles.
Soviet Union, and played recitals in more than 100 cities
Many recordings received prizes and awards such as Preis
in all republics of his native country. After winning an
der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik and the Cannes Classical
array of prizes at prestigious international competitions
Award. The pianist was one of the first artists signed by
(Montreal, Bolzano, Rome, Zurich), Scherbakov launched
EMI Classics for their Debut-Series. In 1995 he became a
his international career in 1990 at the XXth Chamber
“BBC International Artist”.
Music Festival of Asolo, where he performed the complete
During the 2010-2011 season Konstantin Scherbakov
gave his debut on the South American continent playing
with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra and a recital in
Rachmaninoff’s works for piano solo in four recitals, to the
manifest approval of Sviatoslav Richter.
Since 1992 Konstantin Scherbakov has lived with his
Buenos Aires, his schedule included also a concerto
family in Switzerland. Much of his time he spends in Spain
appearance in Sao Paulo with the Sao Paulo Symphony
and in Russia.
Orchestra, he returned to Korea with the Prague Radio-
booklet konstantin.indd Spread 2 of 8 - Pages(2, 15)
France, Taiwan, Japan and Italy.
Since 1998 the pianist has been professor at the
Symphony Orchestra following his highly successful
Zurich University of the Arts. He is a jury member in
debut concerto tour of the country with the Moscow
major international competitions (such as ARD Munich,
Philharmonics in 2010. One of the highlights of the last
Busoni in Bolzano, Liszt in Weimar, and among others
season (2011-2012) was a concert with the Weimarer
Rio de Janeiro, Seoul, Havana etc.) and he regularly
Staatskapelle under Christian Thielemann in Weimar - a
holds master classes all over the world (Germany, Italy,
live broadcast performance of Liszt’s works dedicated to
Switzerland, New Zealand, Singapore, Cuba, Russia, South
the European Liszt 200-Anniversary Day. In his agenda
Africa, Brazil, Japan). Many of his students won prizes
there are also solo performances in Zurich, New York, in
and awards at international competitions, most recently
Germany and South Africa, a recital tour of Korea, Japan
Yulianna Avdeeva, the winner of the last International
and China and festivals appearances in Switzerland,
Chopin Competition in Warsaw 2010.
06/03/12 10:13
KONSTANTIN
SCHERBAKOV
international acclaim for his performances of Liszt’s
Konstantin Scherbakov has given solo performances
in 35 countries in Europe, Asia and Middle East, in the
USA, New Zealand, South Africa and South America. He
”... One of the most capable, daring and interesting
musicians of these days.” Peter Cossé
has played in some of the most prestigious concert halls
such as Philharmonic of Cologne, Wigmore Hall London,
Herkulessaal, Philharmonic and Prinzregententheater
With the recent release of the complete concerto
Munich, Tonhalle Zurich, Liederhalle Stuttgart, Great Hall
works by Tchaikovsky, Konstantin Scherbakov’s endless
of the Moscow Conservatoire, Beethovenhalle Bonn,
repertoire accomplishments continue to amaze. A very
new Congress-Hall Luzern, Concertgebouw Amsterdam,
special repertoire choice has formed the artist’s profile
Musikhalle Hamburg, St. Petersburg Philharmonic,
with the accent on rarely performed and highly demanding
Konzerthaus Berlin, Rudolfinum Prague, Atheneum
virtuoso programs, often comprising of works that were
Bucharest, Casal Hall Tokyo, Victoria Hall Singapore,
considered unplayable before. In co-operation with the
Gewandhaus Leipzig, Konzerthaus Vienna and Warsaw
labels “Naxos” and “Marco Polo” Scherbakov has realized
Philharmonic Hall among others.
some of today’s most unique and significant recording
Konstantin Scherbakov has been guest to important
projects. Among them – complete piano works by Leopold
international music festivals such as Salzburg, Frankfurt,
Godowsky, Respighi and Shostakovich, and complete
Bregenz, Bodensee, Lucerne, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Bad
piano concertos by Tchaikovsky, Respighi, Medtner and
Kissingen, Schubertiade Feldkirch and Schwarzenberg,
Scriabin. The most recent and highly acclaimed recording
Singapore Piano Festival, Piano Rarities Husum,
project was The Complete Beethoven Symphonies in piano
Beethoven Festival Krakau and Warsaw, Lebanon Music
arrangement by F. Liszt.
Festival, “Primavera concertistica” Lugano, Evian, Colmar,
Many of these projects have found their way
Liszt Festivals in Raiding and Weimar, Piano Festival
onto the concert stage. For his cycle of the Complete
Lucerne, and among others - numerous festivals in Italy,
Rachmaninoff’s works Scherbakov gained recognition as
France, New Zealand, USA, Russia, and Switzerland.
“Rachmaninoff of Today” (Lucerne Music Festival). The
Boasting a phenomenal concerto repertoire of over
two-evening performance of the complete Preludes and
50 concertos, Konstantin Scherbakov performed as
Fugues by Shostakovich at different venues, notably at the
soloist with more than 60 orchestras, among with the
Salzburg Festival was enthusiastically met by both public
Russian State Philharmonic, Moscow State Symphony,
and press (“One cannot play Shostakovich any better!”
Moscow Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Symphony,
Die Presse, Vienna). Lately, Scherbakov has received
Stuttgart and Duisburg Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchestra,
booklet konstantin.indd Spread 3 of 8 - Pages(14, 3)
SOIRÉE RUSSE - KONSTANTIN SCHERBAKOV
transcriptions of the Beethoven Symphonies.
Russia has long been seen as a source of
musical inspiration in the West. The Romantics in
particular found the music of Russia fascinating,
and public interest in Russian music has no doubt
been fuelled by a general curiosity about sounds
that seem exotic to Western ears. It is by these
means that Russian art music has found its way
onto Western stages with regularity since the latter
half of the nineteenth century. Today, a repertoire
without Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov,
Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev or Shostakovich would
simply be unthinkable; and by extension, a piano
repertoire without the Russian masters, unimaginable.
This recording features a Russian pianist,
Konstantin Scherbakov, playing an all-Russian
program. It is perhaps then ironic that the
featured program begins with a piece that is
best known to modern listeners in an orchestral
version orchestrated by a French impressionist.
The composer in question is Modest Mussorgsky
(1839-1881), and the work cryptically referred to in
the previous sentence is the famous Pictures at an
Exhibition: A Remembrance of Viktor Hartmann.
This suite, originally intended for performance
on piano, was orchestrated by French composer
Maurice Ravel in 1922. That orchestration has
become particularly famous, and is probably the
most frequently recorded version of the work.
However, the ubiquity of the Ravel orchestration in
recording catalogues has not prevented the original
version from becoming a standard of the piano repertoire.
The Viktor Hartmann alluded to in the title was
an artist and architect with whom Mussorgsky had
made acquaintance some years before penning
the work. Like Mussorgsky, Hartmann (1834-1873)
was something of a Russian nationalist – one often
finds his name associated with the Russian Revival
school of architectural design. Together with Mikhail
Mikeshin, Hartmann was involved in the design
of the elaborate Millennium of Russia monument,
which today stands at the Novgorod Kremlin. Built
in 1862, it was at the time the most expensive
monument ever built in Russia.
(An aside: during the Nazi invasion of Russia in the
Second World War, Hartmann’s famous monument was
actually dismantled by the invaders. Hitler intended to
have the monument shipped back to Germany as a war
trophy – a symbol of Nazi Germany’s defeat of Mother
Russia and her culture. However, the harsh Russian
winter saw the invasion being repelled by the Red Army,
aided by strong partisan resistance. Hitler’s Eastern
blunder ultimately sealed the fate of Berlin, but not
before countless innocent lives had been lost. After
the War, the Millennium of Russia was restored to
Novgorod, where it stands today. This little aside is
interesting because there is another connection to
the Second World War featured on this program, in
the form of Prokofiev’s ‘Stalingrad’ Sonata.)
06/03/12 10:13
KONSTANTIN
SCHERBAKOV
international acclaim for his performances of Liszt’s
Konstantin Scherbakov has given solo performances
in 35 countries in Europe, Asia and Middle East, in the
USA, New Zealand, South Africa and South America. He
”... One of the most capable, daring and interesting
musicians of these days.” Peter Cossé
has played in some of the most prestigious concert halls
such as Philharmonic of Cologne, Wigmore Hall London,
Herkulessaal, Philharmonic and Prinzregententheater
With the recent release of the complete concerto
Munich, Tonhalle Zurich, Liederhalle Stuttgart, Great Hall
works by Tchaikovsky, Konstantin Scherbakov’s endless
of the Moscow Conservatoire, Beethovenhalle Bonn,
repertoire accomplishments continue to amaze. A very
new Congress-Hall Luzern, Concertgebouw Amsterdam,
special repertoire choice has formed the artist’s profile
Musikhalle Hamburg, St. Petersburg Philharmonic,
with the accent on rarely performed and highly demanding
Konzerthaus Berlin, Rudolfinum Prague, Atheneum
virtuoso programs, often comprising of works that were
Bucharest, Casal Hall Tokyo, Victoria Hall Singapore,
considered unplayable before. In co-operation with the
Gewandhaus Leipzig, Konzerthaus Vienna and Warsaw
labels “Naxos” and “Marco Polo” Scherbakov has realized
Philharmonic Hall among others.
some of today’s most unique and significant recording
Konstantin Scherbakov has been guest to important
projects. Among them – complete piano works by Leopold
international music festivals such as Salzburg, Frankfurt,
Godowsky, Respighi and Shostakovich, and complete
Bregenz, Bodensee, Lucerne, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Bad
piano concertos by Tchaikovsky, Respighi, Medtner and
Kissingen, Schubertiade Feldkirch and Schwarzenberg,
Scriabin. The most recent and highly acclaimed recording
Singapore Piano Festival, Piano Rarities Husum,
project was The Complete Beethoven Symphonies in piano
Beethoven Festival Krakau and Warsaw, Lebanon Music
arrangement by F. Liszt.
Festival, “Primavera concertistica” Lugano, Evian, Colmar,
Many of these projects have found their way
Liszt Festivals in Raiding and Weimar, Piano Festival
onto the concert stage. For his cycle of the Complete
Lucerne, and among others - numerous festivals in Italy,
Rachmaninoff’s works Scherbakov gained recognition as
France, New Zealand, USA, Russia, and Switzerland.
“Rachmaninoff of Today” (Lucerne Music Festival). The
Boasting a phenomenal concerto repertoire of over
two-evening performance of the complete Preludes and
50 concertos, Konstantin Scherbakov performed as
Fugues by Shostakovich at different venues, notably at the
soloist with more than 60 orchestras, among with the
Salzburg Festival was enthusiastically met by both public
Russian State Philharmonic, Moscow State Symphony,
and press (“One cannot play Shostakovich any better!”
Moscow Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Symphony,
Die Presse, Vienna). Lately, Scherbakov has received
Stuttgart and Duisburg Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchestra,
booklet konstantin.indd Spread 3 of 8 - Pages(14, 3)
SOIRÉE RUSSE - KONSTANTIN SCHERBAKOV
transcriptions of the Beethoven Symphonies.
Russia has long been seen as a source of
musical inspiration in the West. The Romantics in
particular found the music of Russia fascinating,
and public interest in Russian music has no doubt
been fuelled by a general curiosity about sounds
that seem exotic to Western ears. It is by these
means that Russian art music has found its way
onto Western stages with regularity since the latter
half of the nineteenth century. Today, a repertoire
without Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov,
Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev or Shostakovich would
simply be unthinkable; and by extension, a piano
repertoire without the Russian masters, unimaginable.
This recording features a Russian pianist,
Konstantin Scherbakov, playing an all-Russian
program. It is perhaps then ironic that the
featured program begins with a piece that is
best known to modern listeners in an orchestral
version orchestrated by a French impressionist.
The composer in question is Modest Mussorgsky
(1839-1881), and the work cryptically referred to in
the previous sentence is the famous Pictures at an
Exhibition: A Remembrance of Viktor Hartmann.
This suite, originally intended for performance
on piano, was orchestrated by French composer
Maurice Ravel in 1922. That orchestration has
become particularly famous, and is probably the
most frequently recorded version of the work.
However, the ubiquity of the Ravel orchestration in
recording catalogues has not prevented the original
version from becoming a standard of the piano repertoire.
The Viktor Hartmann alluded to in the title was
an artist and architect with whom Mussorgsky had
made acquaintance some years before penning
the work. Like Mussorgsky, Hartmann (1834-1873)
was something of a Russian nationalist – one often
finds his name associated with the Russian Revival
school of architectural design. Together with Mikhail
Mikeshin, Hartmann was involved in the design
of the elaborate Millennium of Russia monument,
which today stands at the Novgorod Kremlin. Built
in 1862, it was at the time the most expensive
monument ever built in Russia.
(An aside: during the Nazi invasion of Russia in the
Second World War, Hartmann’s famous monument was
actually dismantled by the invaders. Hitler intended to
have the monument shipped back to Germany as a war
trophy – a symbol of Nazi Germany’s defeat of Mother
Russia and her culture. However, the harsh Russian
winter saw the invasion being repelled by the Red Army,
aided by strong partisan resistance. Hitler’s Eastern
blunder ultimately sealed the fate of Berlin, but not
before countless innocent lives had been lost. After
the War, the Millennium of Russia was restored to
Novgorod, where it stands today. This little aside is
interesting because there is another connection to
the Second World War featured on this program, in
the form of Prokofiev’s ‘Stalingrad’ Sonata.)
06/03/12 10:13
Mussorgsky met Hartmann via the critic Vladimir
Stasov, who had introduced the artist into the
musical circle surrounding Mily Balakirev. Hartmann
left a great impression on Mussorgsky, and the two
became friends. It was the 39-year old Hartmann’s
tragically premature death from the effects of an
aneurysm that spurred Mussorgsky to compose a
work in his honour. In February and March of 1874,
the year following the artist’s death, the Academy
for Fine Arts in St. Petersburg exhibited about 400
of Hartmann’s sketches, drawings and paintings.
Mussorgsky, inspired by both the exhibition and
the memory of his friend, set out to write a suite
of programmatic music depicting a visit to the
exhibition. The resulting Pictures at an Exhibition,
completed in 1874, is a colourful and fantastical
collection of musical images, marked by moments
of sadness and reflection. Unfortunately, unlike
the Millennium of Russia, many of the drawings
and watercolours from the Hartmann exhibition are
now lost, so all we have to remember them by are
Mussorgsky’s musical impressions.
Pictures had to wait twelve years after its
creation, and five years after the death of its
author, to be published as a first edition. This
version of the suite was edited by another giant of
Russian music, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The urtext
(that is, the original final version as completed by
Mussorgsky) had to wait until 1931 for publication.
In the interim, Pictures at an Exhibition proved
booklet konstantin.indd Spread 4 of 8 - Pages(4, 13)
to be popular, especially amongst students of
orchestration. The rich textures of the piano score
have been exploited by several arrangers, with
Ravel’s orchestration becoming by far the most
recorded version of this mighty work.
Featured throughout Pictures are recurrent
‘Promenade’ passages. These passages are
essentially restatements of the same theme, serving
as a link between many of the movements. The
theme has become something of the ‘signature
tune’ for the work, and turns up in various guises
in several of the Picture-movements. Mussorgsky
intended the Promenade interludes to capture
the mood of a viewer walking through the gallery,
between the actual viewings of various pictures.
The work opens with this famously austere
Promenade, material that lends itself to both
respectful remembrance and solemn reflection.
Overall, however, Pictures is a work of contrasts.
This is obvious from the very first Picturemovement we encounter: ‘Gnomus’, Latin for ‘The
Gnome’. The original artwork by Hartmann which
inspired this movement is today missing, but was
reportedly a depiction of a nutcracker design in the
shape of a hideous gnome with crooked legs. It is
easy to imagine that the music depicts the bizarre
sight of the gnome walking rather unsteadily on his
strange limbs.
06/03/12 10:13
Mussorgsky met Hartmann via the critic Vladimir
Stasov, who had introduced the artist into the
musical circle surrounding Mily Balakirev. Hartmann
left a great impression on Mussorgsky, and the two
became friends. It was the 39-year old Hartmann’s
tragically premature death from the effects of an
aneurysm that spurred Mussorgsky to compose a
work in his honour. In February and March of 1874,
the year following the artist’s death, the Academy
for Fine Arts in St. Petersburg exhibited about 400
of Hartmann’s sketches, drawings and paintings.
Mussorgsky, inspired by both the exhibition and
the memory of his friend, set out to write a suite
of programmatic music depicting a visit to the
exhibition. The resulting Pictures at an Exhibition,
completed in 1874, is a colourful and fantastical
collection of musical images, marked by moments
of sadness and reflection. Unfortunately, unlike
the Millennium of Russia, many of the drawings
and watercolours from the Hartmann exhibition are
now lost, so all we have to remember them by are
Mussorgsky’s musical impressions.
Pictures had to wait twelve years after its
creation, and five years after the death of its
author, to be published as a first edition. This
version of the suite was edited by another giant of
Russian music, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The urtext
(that is, the original final version as completed by
Mussorgsky) had to wait until 1931 for publication.
In the interim, Pictures at an Exhibition proved
booklet konstantin.indd Spread 4 of 8 - Pages(4, 13)
to be popular, especially amongst students of
orchestration. The rich textures of the piano score
have been exploited by several arrangers, with
Ravel’s orchestration becoming by far the most
recorded version of this mighty work.
Featured throughout Pictures are recurrent
‘Promenade’ passages. These passages are
essentially restatements of the same theme, serving
as a link between many of the movements. The
theme has become something of the ‘signature
tune’ for the work, and turns up in various guises
in several of the Picture-movements. Mussorgsky
intended the Promenade interludes to capture
the mood of a viewer walking through the gallery,
between the actual viewings of various pictures.
The work opens with this famously austere
Promenade, material that lends itself to both
respectful remembrance and solemn reflection.
Overall, however, Pictures is a work of contrasts.
This is obvious from the very first Picturemovement we encounter: ‘Gnomus’, Latin for ‘The
Gnome’. The original artwork by Hartmann which
inspired this movement is today missing, but was
reportedly a depiction of a nutcracker design in the
shape of a hideous gnome with crooked legs. It is
easy to imagine that the music depicts the bizarre
sight of the gnome walking rather unsteadily on his
strange limbs.
06/03/12 10:13
Sonatas contain some of the composer’s most
atonal and dissonant writing, in violation of the
aesthetic dictates of the State. It was precisely this
sort of compositional style, labelled as decadent
and ‘formalist’, that the official doctrine of Soviet
Realism wished to combat. If this view holds merit,
it is chillingly ironic that the Seventh Sonata was
later awarded a Stalin Prize. Conscious musical
protest or not, the awarding of the Stalin Prize
to a piece as antithetical to Socialist Realism as
the Seventh Sonata is testament to the fact that
even the practical details of censorship continually
appear to be beyond the capabilities of totalitarian
regimes. If there is a veiled critique of Stalinist
oppression in the War Sonatas, it seems to have
escaped the notice of the censors.
From the outset, the turmoil engulfing the
world seems to find expression in Prokofiev’s
sometimes bleak, and often violently percussive,
setting of musical material. The listener need not
look beyond the first movement to find evidence
of the composer’s skill at utilising daringly atonal
techniques to create contrasts between dissonant
rage and yearning nostalgia. (The majority of the
work is atonal in the sense that it largely eschews
conventional harmonic functions. However, tonal
centres are still present in much of the work,
especially in the final movement.) The opening
movement is cast in sonata form, a formal strategy
that lends itself particularly well to contrasting
booklet konstantin.indd Spread 5 of 8 - Pages(12, 5)
thematic material, even in the absence of traditional
harmonic devices. The second movement also
adopts a large-scale ternary (ABA) structure, albeit
with fewer core themes. This Andante caloroso
movement offers but a brief respite from conflict,
for the finale is a relentlessly agitated affair – a
brilliant toccata driven by an inherently unstable
7/8 meter.
It is hard to imagine that Prokofiev did not give
musical expression to his artistic surroundings,
but at the same time, it is difficult to point to
the moments when his music explicitly stated his
opposition to State ideology. The artistic politics
of the Soviet Union were not as simple as is
sometimes portrayed. As Hitler’s armies advanced
on Moscow, the people of Russia were caught
between their own tyrannical regime and the horror
of Nazi atrocity. Nonetheless, music such as that
of the Seventh Sonata, composed in circumstances
of terror and oppression, show how deep the need
for artistic expression lies in the human psyche.
Perhaps it is in this expression of the human spirit
that the fascination with not only Russian music,
but all the world’s music, truly lies.
Barry Ross
The Promenade returns to guide us toward
the next picture: ‘Il vecchio castello’, or ‘The Old
Castle’. This is a haunting movement, so effectively
scored with alto saxophone in Ravel’s famous
orchestration. The watercolour in question was of
a medieval castle, in front of which a troubadour
sings. In Mussorgsky’s mind, the troubadour’s
song couldn’t have been a very jolly one: the
music of ‘The Old Castle’ is broody, mysterious,
and ethereal. After the pensive conclusion of this
movement, the Promenade returns to usher the
listener toward the next two pictures, the first
of which is entitled ‘Tuileries (Dispute d’enfants
après jeux)’, or in English, ‘Tuileries (A Dispute
between Children at Play)’. The Jardin de Tuileries
is the garden between the Louvre and the Place
de la Concorde in Paris, the former garden of the
Tuileries Palace which was burnt to the ground
during the turbulent weeks of the Paris Commune
in 1871. Here, too, Hartmann’s original artwork is
lost. The next picture is a rural scene, ‘Bydlo’, which
translates as ‘Cattle’. Mussorgsky aimed to recreate
in music the scene of a lumbering Polish cart pulled
by oxen. This effect is achieved by virtue of the
measured tread of the bass chords, which despite
evoking mental images of weight and labour, never
descends into caricature.
The Promenade takes us from oxen to chickens
next, with the ‘Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks’.
This is the musical representative of décor designs
which Hartmann had made for a ballet called Trilby
(with music by Julius Gerber and choreography
by Marius Petipa). After this delightful little piece,
the listener’s gaze falls next on a picture entitled
‘Samuel Goldenberg und Schmuÿle’, which is
probably better known by the title given to it by
the critic Stasov, ‘Two Jews: Rich and Poor’. The
stern and serious first theme belongs to the rich
Goldenberg, the second is Schmuÿle’s. After the
presentation of these two themes, Mussorgsky
skilfully sets them in counterpoint with one another
– a striking example of dialogue depicted both
literally and figuratively in music.
‘Samuel Goldenberg und Schmuÿle’ is followed
by an only slightly modified repeat of the opening
Promenade, marking the midpoint of the suite.
(This Promenade is often left out of arrangements
and orchestrations of the work.) The second half of
Pictures commences with ‘Limoges, le marché (La
grande nouvelle)’ - ‘The Market at Limoges (The
Great News)’. This is a depiction of an animated
exchange between women in a busy marketplace.
Mussorgsky’s contrasts are sharp, and this scene is
segued straight into the eighth picture: the ethereal
depiction of skulls and bones in a subterranean
tomb, ‘Catacombæ (Sepulcrum romanum)’, and
‘Cum mortuis in lingua mortua’. (‘The Catacombs
(Roman sepulchre)’, and ‘With the Dead in a
Dead Language’). Hartmann’s original painting
which inspired this movement was a self-portrait,
06/03/12 10:13
Sonatas contain some of the composer’s most
atonal and dissonant writing, in violation of the
aesthetic dictates of the State. It was precisely this
sort of compositional style, labelled as decadent
and ‘formalist’, that the official doctrine of Soviet
Realism wished to combat. If this view holds merit,
it is chillingly ironic that the Seventh Sonata was
later awarded a Stalin Prize. Conscious musical
protest or not, the awarding of the Stalin Prize
to a piece as antithetical to Socialist Realism as
the Seventh Sonata is testament to the fact that
even the practical details of censorship continually
appear to be beyond the capabilities of totalitarian
regimes. If there is a veiled critique of Stalinist
oppression in the War Sonatas, it seems to have
escaped the notice of the censors.
From the outset, the turmoil engulfing the
world seems to find expression in Prokofiev’s
sometimes bleak, and often violently percussive,
setting of musical material. The listener need not
look beyond the first movement to find evidence
of the composer’s skill at utilising daringly atonal
techniques to create contrasts between dissonant
rage and yearning nostalgia. (The majority of the
work is atonal in the sense that it largely eschews
conventional harmonic functions. However, tonal
centres are still present in much of the work,
especially in the final movement.) The opening
movement is cast in sonata form, a formal strategy
that lends itself particularly well to contrasting
booklet konstantin.indd Spread 5 of 8 - Pages(12, 5)
thematic material, even in the absence of traditional
harmonic devices. The second movement also
adopts a large-scale ternary (ABA) structure, albeit
with fewer core themes. This Andante caloroso
movement offers but a brief respite from conflict,
for the finale is a relentlessly agitated affair – a
brilliant toccata driven by an inherently unstable
7/8 meter.
It is hard to imagine that Prokofiev did not give
musical expression to his artistic surroundings,
but at the same time, it is difficult to point to
the moments when his music explicitly stated his
opposition to State ideology. The artistic politics
of the Soviet Union were not as simple as is
sometimes portrayed. As Hitler’s armies advanced
on Moscow, the people of Russia were caught
between their own tyrannical regime and the horror
of Nazi atrocity. Nonetheless, music such as that
of the Seventh Sonata, composed in circumstances
of terror and oppression, show how deep the need
for artistic expression lies in the human psyche.
Perhaps it is in this expression of the human spirit
that the fascination with not only Russian music,
but all the world’s music, truly lies.
Barry Ross
The Promenade returns to guide us toward
the next picture: ‘Il vecchio castello’, or ‘The Old
Castle’. This is a haunting movement, so effectively
scored with alto saxophone in Ravel’s famous
orchestration. The watercolour in question was of
a medieval castle, in front of which a troubadour
sings. In Mussorgsky’s mind, the troubadour’s
song couldn’t have been a very jolly one: the
music of ‘The Old Castle’ is broody, mysterious,
and ethereal. After the pensive conclusion of this
movement, the Promenade returns to usher the
listener toward the next two pictures, the first
of which is entitled ‘Tuileries (Dispute d’enfants
après jeux)’, or in English, ‘Tuileries (A Dispute
between Children at Play)’. The Jardin de Tuileries
is the garden between the Louvre and the Place
de la Concorde in Paris, the former garden of the
Tuileries Palace which was burnt to the ground
during the turbulent weeks of the Paris Commune
in 1871. Here, too, Hartmann’s original artwork is
lost. The next picture is a rural scene, ‘Bydlo’, which
translates as ‘Cattle’. Mussorgsky aimed to recreate
in music the scene of a lumbering Polish cart pulled
by oxen. This effect is achieved by virtue of the
measured tread of the bass chords, which despite
evoking mental images of weight and labour, never
descends into caricature.
The Promenade takes us from oxen to chickens
next, with the ‘Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks’.
This is the musical representative of décor designs
which Hartmann had made for a ballet called Trilby
(with music by Julius Gerber and choreography
by Marius Petipa). After this delightful little piece,
the listener’s gaze falls next on a picture entitled
‘Samuel Goldenberg und Schmuÿle’, which is
probably better known by the title given to it by
the critic Stasov, ‘Two Jews: Rich and Poor’. The
stern and serious first theme belongs to the rich
Goldenberg, the second is Schmuÿle’s. After the
presentation of these two themes, Mussorgsky
skilfully sets them in counterpoint with one another
– a striking example of dialogue depicted both
literally and figuratively in music.
‘Samuel Goldenberg und Schmuÿle’ is followed
by an only slightly modified repeat of the opening
Promenade, marking the midpoint of the suite.
(This Promenade is often left out of arrangements
and orchestrations of the work.) The second half of
Pictures commences with ‘Limoges, le marché (La
grande nouvelle)’ - ‘The Market at Limoges (The
Great News)’. This is a depiction of an animated
exchange between women in a busy marketplace.
Mussorgsky’s contrasts are sharp, and this scene is
segued straight into the eighth picture: the ethereal
depiction of skulls and bones in a subterranean
tomb, ‘Catacombæ (Sepulcrum romanum)’, and
‘Cum mortuis in lingua mortua’. (‘The Catacombs
(Roman sepulchre)’, and ‘With the Dead in a
Dead Language’). Hartmann’s original painting
which inspired this movement was a self-portrait,
06/03/12 10:13
featuring the artist exploring catacombs armed with
a lantern. The music is of two parts: an ominous
Largo section, and an Andante section which brings
the Promenade-theme to the fore, beautifully
set with ringing bells in the background. In the
margin of the original manuscript, Mussorgsky had
pencilled in several statements. With regard to the
piece as a whole, he wrote: “The creative spirit of
the dead Hartmann leads me towards the skulls,
invokes them; the skulls begin to glow softly from
within”. Mussorgsky also provided evidence that
he thought of the piece in a humorous manner as
well. With regard to the subject matter, he chose
that the title be rendered in Latin, and jotted down
in the margin the cheeky subtitle: “NB – Latin text:
With the dead in a dead language”. So, it seems
even the great artist Mussorgsky couldn’t resist the
humour of depicting Latin as a dead language!
The last two pictures are, along with ‘The Old
Castle’ and the opening Promenade, amongst the
most famous movements of the suite. ‘The Hut
on Fowl’s Legs (Baba-Yagá)’ depicts a picture of
a clock, designed to represent the bizarre and
diabolical home of the witch Baba-Yagá, of Russian
mythology. This is diabolical music depicting a
diabolical figure, often portrayed as a kidnapper
and consumer of children, in addition to a host
of other witch-like character traits. This strange
image leads us to the famous ‘Great Gate of Kiev’,
Hartmann’s design for the proposed Bogatyr Gates.
booklet konstantin.indd Spread 6 of 8 - Pages(6, 11)
(The ‘bogatyr’ were a class of Slavic knights, often
elevated to the status of hero in folklore; not much
unlike the chivalric knights of Western Europe.) The
occasion of celebration prompting the design of
Hartmann’s Great Gate was the lucky escape of Tsar
Alexander II from assassination in 1866. Hartmann’s
design was the winner of a competition held to
commemorate the Tsar’s narrow brush with death,
but the plan to construct the memorial gates was
never realised. It is here that the Promenade theme
returns triumphantly to end the work.
Of all the eminent Russian names in the modern
piano repertoire, few can match the allure of Sergei
Rachmaninoff (1873-1943). Rachmaninoff’s music is
magnetic to both pianists and audiences alike: his
works, clothed in a language of Romantic lushness,
seem to embody the very spirit of virtuoso pianism.
A student of Nikolai Zverev and Anton Arensky in
St. Petersburg and Moscow, Rachmaninoff not only
became an esteemed composer in his own lifetime:
he was also considered one of the finest pianists of
the first half of the twentieth century. Rachmaninoff
was one of the last musicians to have true success
pursuing a career featuring both composition and
performance, something that is a rarity today with
the modern art music industry’s wholehearted
acceptance of the principle of division of labour.
Like the Étude-tableaux, Prokofiev’s
Seventh Sonata, in B flat, op. 83, was written
in circumstances of great social upheaval. The
Seventh Sonata was composed in the midst of
the German invasion of Russia, being premièred in
January 1943 by the fabled Soviet pianist Sviatoslav
Richter. Bearing the nickname ‘The Stalingrad’, it
was the second of Prokofiev’s three ‘War Sonatas’,
written by the composer between 1939 and 1942.
Many modern commentators not only consider the
War Sonatas as poignant artistic responses to the
horrors of war, but also as artistic responses to the
tyrannical oppression of the Soviet regime, which
imposed itself so destructively on the arts.
The worldwide political chaos of the inter-War
period had a deep impact on Russian society.
By the outbreak of the Second World War, the
Soviet regime sought to maintain an iron grip on
their ideological monopoly in Russia. As a result,
the State was particularly sensitive to what was
perceived as anti-Communist ideological baggage
accompanying Western art. Thus, there was an
ominous weight of political expectation placed on
Soviet composers and artists to create ‘healthy’,
populist art, as embodied in the doctrine of
Socialist Realism. Failure to live up to the ideals
of Socialist Realism had horrid real-world effects.
Prokofiev’s 1939 opera Semyon Kotko was
considered to be ideologically acceptable by the
regime, but the artistic activities of his close friend
Vsevolod Meyerhold, who was to be the director,
were not. Meyerhold was arrested shortly before
rehearsals began, and was never heard from again.
It was later revealed he had been tortured, forced
to falsely confess to co-operating with Western
intelligence, and was subsequently executed in
1940. Meyerhold’s wife was found murdered in
her house less than a month after the arrest. In
these frightening circumstances, Prokofiev – who
had spent many years in Western Europe – sought
to publicly comply with the regime. When Soviet
artistic authorities formally requested Prokofiev to
write a politically approved cantata to celebrate the
occasion of Stalin’s 60th birthday, Zdravitsa (‘Hail
to Stalin’, op. 85) was the result. Prokofiev wisely
thought it too dangerous to refuse formal requests
from the Stalinist regime.
Around the time of the commission of Zdravitsa,
Prokofiev began to privately work on the War
Sonatas (all three were started simultaneously in
1939). Upon completion, they were presented to
the public as works championing the Soviet cause
against the German invasion of 1941. However,
some critics have come to view these pieces as a
musical protest in disguise, a protest against the
brutal intrusion of Soviet ideology into the realm
of art. Prompting this view is the fact that the War
06/03/12 10:13
featuring the artist exploring catacombs armed with
a lantern. The music is of two parts: an ominous
Largo section, and an Andante section which brings
the Promenade-theme to the fore, beautifully
set with ringing bells in the background. In the
margin of the original manuscript, Mussorgsky had
pencilled in several statements. With regard to the
piece as a whole, he wrote: “The creative spirit of
the dead Hartmann leads me towards the skulls,
invokes them; the skulls begin to glow softly from
within”. Mussorgsky also provided evidence that
he thought of the piece in a humorous manner as
well. With regard to the subject matter, he chose
that the title be rendered in Latin, and jotted down
in the margin the cheeky subtitle: “NB – Latin text:
With the dead in a dead language”. So, it seems
even the great artist Mussorgsky couldn’t resist the
humour of depicting Latin as a dead language!
The last two pictures are, along with ‘The Old
Castle’ and the opening Promenade, amongst the
most famous movements of the suite. ‘The Hut
on Fowl’s Legs (Baba-Yagá)’ depicts a picture of
a clock, designed to represent the bizarre and
diabolical home of the witch Baba-Yagá, of Russian
mythology. This is diabolical music depicting a
diabolical figure, often portrayed as a kidnapper
and consumer of children, in addition to a host
of other witch-like character traits. This strange
image leads us to the famous ‘Great Gate of Kiev’,
Hartmann’s design for the proposed Bogatyr Gates.
booklet konstantin.indd Spread 6 of 8 - Pages(6, 11)
(The ‘bogatyr’ were a class of Slavic knights, often
elevated to the status of hero in folklore; not much
unlike the chivalric knights of Western Europe.) The
occasion of celebration prompting the design of
Hartmann’s Great Gate was the lucky escape of Tsar
Alexander II from assassination in 1866. Hartmann’s
design was the winner of a competition held to
commemorate the Tsar’s narrow brush with death,
but the plan to construct the memorial gates was
never realised. It is here that the Promenade theme
returns triumphantly to end the work.
Of all the eminent Russian names in the modern
piano repertoire, few can match the allure of Sergei
Rachmaninoff (1873-1943). Rachmaninoff’s music is
magnetic to both pianists and audiences alike: his
works, clothed in a language of Romantic lushness,
seem to embody the very spirit of virtuoso pianism.
A student of Nikolai Zverev and Anton Arensky in
St. Petersburg and Moscow, Rachmaninoff not only
became an esteemed composer in his own lifetime:
he was also considered one of the finest pianists of
the first half of the twentieth century. Rachmaninoff
was one of the last musicians to have true success
pursuing a career featuring both composition and
performance, something that is a rarity today with
the modern art music industry’s wholehearted
acceptance of the principle of division of labour.
Like the Étude-tableaux, Prokofiev’s
Seventh Sonata, in B flat, op. 83, was written
in circumstances of great social upheaval. The
Seventh Sonata was composed in the midst of
the German invasion of Russia, being premièred in
January 1943 by the fabled Soviet pianist Sviatoslav
Richter. Bearing the nickname ‘The Stalingrad’, it
was the second of Prokofiev’s three ‘War Sonatas’,
written by the composer between 1939 and 1942.
Many modern commentators not only consider the
War Sonatas as poignant artistic responses to the
horrors of war, but also as artistic responses to the
tyrannical oppression of the Soviet regime, which
imposed itself so destructively on the arts.
The worldwide political chaos of the inter-War
period had a deep impact on Russian society.
By the outbreak of the Second World War, the
Soviet regime sought to maintain an iron grip on
their ideological monopoly in Russia. As a result,
the State was particularly sensitive to what was
perceived as anti-Communist ideological baggage
accompanying Western art. Thus, there was an
ominous weight of political expectation placed on
Soviet composers and artists to create ‘healthy’,
populist art, as embodied in the doctrine of
Socialist Realism. Failure to live up to the ideals
of Socialist Realism had horrid real-world effects.
Prokofiev’s 1939 opera Semyon Kotko was
considered to be ideologically acceptable by the
regime, but the artistic activities of his close friend
Vsevolod Meyerhold, who was to be the director,
were not. Meyerhold was arrested shortly before
rehearsals began, and was never heard from again.
It was later revealed he had been tortured, forced
to falsely confess to co-operating with Western
intelligence, and was subsequently executed in
1940. Meyerhold’s wife was found murdered in
her house less than a month after the arrest. In
these frightening circumstances, Prokofiev – who
had spent many years in Western Europe – sought
to publicly comply with the regime. When Soviet
artistic authorities formally requested Prokofiev to
write a politically approved cantata to celebrate the
occasion of Stalin’s 60th birthday, Zdravitsa (‘Hail
to Stalin’, op. 85) was the result. Prokofiev wisely
thought it too dangerous to refuse formal requests
from the Stalinist regime.
Around the time of the commission of Zdravitsa,
Prokofiev began to privately work on the War
Sonatas (all three were started simultaneously in
1939). Upon completion, they were presented to
the public as works championing the Soviet cause
against the German invasion of 1941. However,
some critics have come to view these pieces as a
musical protest in disguise, a protest against the
brutal intrusion of Soviet ideology into the realm
of art. Prompting this view is the fact that the War
06/03/12 10:13
The title page of the op. 23 set of preludes
bears a dedication to another colossus of late
Romantic music, Alexander Siloti. Siloti, famous
as a pianist, conductor and composer, was in
fact Rachmaninoff’s cousin. The reason for the
dedication was not simply one of kinship, nor the
fact that Siloti was for a time one of Rachmaninoff’s
teachers. Rachmaninoff had in fact received
financial support from his cousin while engaged in
the composition of the op. 23 preludes.
The selection of Rachmaninoff pieces on
this program ends off with the Étude-tableaux
in E-flat minor, op. 39 no. 5. ‘Étude-tableaux’
literally translates as ‘study pictures’. As with most
Romantic etudes, such as those of Chopin and
Scriabin, these pieces aren’t intended to be simply
played as technical challenges clothed in musical
form. A further challenge awaits the player of these
etudes – a challenge of interpretation, phrasing,
and musical gesture. These are study pictures,
studies of musical interpretation, as well as tests of
technical prowess. They are as much studies in the
traditional sense as artworks of the highest order.
Rachmaninoff wrote two sets of these etudes,
numbered op. 33 and op. 39, yielding a total of
17 pieces with the title Étude-tableaux. The op. 35
set was written in 1911, while the memory of an
unpleasant 1909 concert tour of the United States
was still fresh in the composer’s mind. The second
booklet konstantin.indd Spread 7 of 8 - Pages(10, 7)
set, op. 39, was written some five years later,
between 1916 and 1917. The op. 39 etudes were
amongst the last major works that Rachmaninoff
wrote while still living in his native Russia. Russia
during the years of the First World War was
politically unstable to the extreme, but by 1916,
Rachmaninoff could very clearly see the writing on
the wall: public discontent, ineffective and unstable
changes of government, social unrest, and the
tangible expression of deep-seated anger toward the
Tsar and his family, all pointed toward a large-scale
revolt. Rachmaninoff correctly foresaw that a major
and violent social upheaval was imminent. In June
1917, he asked his cousin Siloti to help him arrange
a visa, so that he might easily leave the country
if needed, but the infamous Russian bureaucracy
thwarted efforts in this direction. Fortunately for
Rachmaninoff, an invitation to play in Stockholm
arrived a few months later. It was enough to
persuade authorities to grant him permission to
travel. In December 1917, shortly after the October
Revolution that left the composer’s beloved country
retreat at Ivanovka in ruins, Rachmaninoff and
his family left Russia for good. It was against this
backdrop that the op. 39 collection was composed,
and unsurprisingly some of Rachmaninoff’s most
tumultuous and passionate music is to be found
here. Abandoning all property and money in Russia
was not an easy choice for Rachmaninoff, but it
is certainly arguable that given his astronomical
success in the West, it was the correct one.
Despite writing symphonic and chamber
works of high quality, it is his contribution to the
piano repertoire for which Rachmaninoff is best
known. His output for the instrument is diverse:
from imposing sonatas to virtuoso concertos and
intimate character pieces, Rachmaninoff was able
to adapt to any medium without compromising his
own idiosyncratic style. His lush Romanticism was
undoubtedly out of place when compared to the
work of his more modernist-inclined peers. Perhaps
this very fact is the source of his originality.
The selection of pieces by Rachmaninoff
featured on this program starts with the Elegie
from Morceaux de fantaisie (‘Fantasy pieces’, op.
3). Morceaux de fantaisie is comprised of five
pieces, not intended by the composer to be played
together in a single performance. The set was
composed in 1892, while Rachmaninoff was still
a student, and as a result, they bear a dedication
to his teacher Anton Arensky. Despite being works
of relative youth, these provocatively titled pieces
bear all the stylistic hallmarks of Rachmaninoff’s
brand of thematically rich Romanticism. Indeed,
the second piece in the set, the Prelude in C-sharp
minor, has become one of Rachmaninoff’s most
famous compositions.
Amongst Rachmaninoff’s large output of piano
pieces, the Preludes (op. 23 and 32) are particularly
well-loved. Like Chopin, who took inspiration from
J. S. Bach’s Das Wohltemperierte Clavier for his
preludes, Rachmaninoff doubtlessly considered
the genre to be important. Rachmaninoff wrote a
prelude in each of the minor and major keys: the
op. 23 set contains ten preludes, the op. 32 set
contains thirteen, and the remaining prelude can
be found in the earlier Morceaux de fantaisie in the
form of the famous C-sharp minor prelude. And,
as we find with the preludes of Bach and Chopin,
Rachmaninoff certainly did not shy away from
creating a technical challenge for the pianist. These
challenges of technique are reflective, no doubt,
of Rachmaninoff’s own remarkable dexterity at the
keyboard.
The two preludes selected for this recording
are the D minor and E-flat major preludes,
published as part of the op. 23 set and
composed between 1901 and 1903. The D minor
prelude (the third of op. 23) is marked Tempo
di minuetto, which seems to be as much a
character as a tempo marking. On display in
this prelude is Rachmaninoff’s penchant for
inventive counterpoint, particularly with freeflowing scale motives – no doubt a nod to the
rich contrapuntal language of Bach’s preludes.
The E-flat major prelude, marked Andante, is
the sixth of the set. This piece breaks with
clear-cut ternary structure common to many of
Rachmaninoff’s preludes, and is instead a set of
subtly distinguished variations.
06/03/12 10:13
The title page of the op. 23 set of preludes
bears a dedication to another colossus of late
Romantic music, Alexander Siloti. Siloti, famous
as a pianist, conductor and composer, was in
fact Rachmaninoff’s cousin. The reason for the
dedication was not simply one of kinship, nor the
fact that Siloti was for a time one of Rachmaninoff’s
teachers. Rachmaninoff had in fact received
financial support from his cousin while engaged in
the composition of the op. 23 preludes.
The selection of Rachmaninoff pieces on
this program ends off with the Étude-tableaux
in E-flat minor, op. 39 no. 5. ‘Étude-tableaux’
literally translates as ‘study pictures’. As with most
Romantic etudes, such as those of Chopin and
Scriabin, these pieces aren’t intended to be simply
played as technical challenges clothed in musical
form. A further challenge awaits the player of these
etudes – a challenge of interpretation, phrasing,
and musical gesture. These are study pictures,
studies of musical interpretation, as well as tests of
technical prowess. They are as much studies in the
traditional sense as artworks of the highest order.
Rachmaninoff wrote two sets of these etudes,
numbered op. 33 and op. 39, yielding a total of
17 pieces with the title Étude-tableaux. The op. 35
set was written in 1911, while the memory of an
unpleasant 1909 concert tour of the United States
was still fresh in the composer’s mind. The second
booklet konstantin.indd Spread 7 of 8 - Pages(10, 7)
set, op. 39, was written some five years later,
between 1916 and 1917. The op. 39 etudes were
amongst the last major works that Rachmaninoff
wrote while still living in his native Russia. Russia
during the years of the First World War was
politically unstable to the extreme, but by 1916,
Rachmaninoff could very clearly see the writing on
the wall: public discontent, ineffective and unstable
changes of government, social unrest, and the
tangible expression of deep-seated anger toward the
Tsar and his family, all pointed toward a large-scale
revolt. Rachmaninoff correctly foresaw that a major
and violent social upheaval was imminent. In June
1917, he asked his cousin Siloti to help him arrange
a visa, so that he might easily leave the country
if needed, but the infamous Russian bureaucracy
thwarted efforts in this direction. Fortunately for
Rachmaninoff, an invitation to play in Stockholm
arrived a few months later. It was enough to
persuade authorities to grant him permission to
travel. In December 1917, shortly after the October
Revolution that left the composer’s beloved country
retreat at Ivanovka in ruins, Rachmaninoff and
his family left Russia for good. It was against this
backdrop that the op. 39 collection was composed,
and unsurprisingly some of Rachmaninoff’s most
tumultuous and passionate music is to be found
here. Abandoning all property and money in Russia
was not an easy choice for Rachmaninoff, but it
is certainly arguable that given his astronomical
success in the West, it was the correct one.
Despite writing symphonic and chamber
works of high quality, it is his contribution to the
piano repertoire for which Rachmaninoff is best
known. His output for the instrument is diverse:
from imposing sonatas to virtuoso concertos and
intimate character pieces, Rachmaninoff was able
to adapt to any medium without compromising his
own idiosyncratic style. His lush Romanticism was
undoubtedly out of place when compared to the
work of his more modernist-inclined peers. Perhaps
this very fact is the source of his originality.
The selection of pieces by Rachmaninoff
featured on this program starts with the Elegie
from Morceaux de fantaisie (‘Fantasy pieces’, op.
3). Morceaux de fantaisie is comprised of five
pieces, not intended by the composer to be played
together in a single performance. The set was
composed in 1892, while Rachmaninoff was still
a student, and as a result, they bear a dedication
to his teacher Anton Arensky. Despite being works
of relative youth, these provocatively titled pieces
bear all the stylistic hallmarks of Rachmaninoff’s
brand of thematically rich Romanticism. Indeed,
the second piece in the set, the Prelude in C-sharp
minor, has become one of Rachmaninoff’s most
famous compositions.
Amongst Rachmaninoff’s large output of piano
pieces, the Preludes (op. 23 and 32) are particularly
well-loved. Like Chopin, who took inspiration from
J. S. Bach’s Das Wohltemperierte Clavier for his
preludes, Rachmaninoff doubtlessly considered
the genre to be important. Rachmaninoff wrote a
prelude in each of the minor and major keys: the
op. 23 set contains ten preludes, the op. 32 set
contains thirteen, and the remaining prelude can
be found in the earlier Morceaux de fantaisie in the
form of the famous C-sharp minor prelude. And,
as we find with the preludes of Bach and Chopin,
Rachmaninoff certainly did not shy away from
creating a technical challenge for the pianist. These
challenges of technique are reflective, no doubt,
of Rachmaninoff’s own remarkable dexterity at the
keyboard.
The two preludes selected for this recording
are the D minor and E-flat major preludes,
published as part of the op. 23 set and
composed between 1901 and 1903. The D minor
prelude (the third of op. 23) is marked Tempo
di minuetto, which seems to be as much a
character as a tempo marking. On display in
this prelude is Rachmaninoff’s penchant for
inventive counterpoint, particularly with freeflowing scale motives – no doubt a nod to the
rich contrapuntal language of Bach’s preludes.
The E-flat major prelude, marked Andante, is
the sixth of the set. This piece breaks with
clear-cut ternary structure common to many of
Rachmaninoff’s preludes, and is instead a set of
subtly distinguished variations.
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MODEST MUSSORGSKY (1839-1881)
Recorded live at: Endler Hall, Stellenbosch University,
Pictures of an Exhibition
South Africa, 13 February 2011
1
1:26
Promenade
Artist: Konstantin Scherbakov (piano)
2
2:29
I. Gnomus
Produced by: Luis Magalhães
3
0:41
Promenade
Balance engineer: Gerhard Roux
4
4:32
II. ll vecchio castello
Piano tuner: W. Heuer Musikhaus
5
0:23
Promenade
Edited and Mixed by: Gerhard Roux
6
0:58
III. Tuileries
Assistant: Leon van Zyl
7
2:51
IV. Bydlo
Program notes: Barry Ross
8
0:40
Promenade
Mastered by: Tim Lengfeld
9
1:14
V. Ballet of the Chickens in their Shells
Cover Photo: Juri Junkov
10 2:17
VI. Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle
Booklet Photos: Juri Junkov, Riekert Cloete
11 1:16
Promenade
Graphic Design: Glitz-design
12 1:22
VII. Limoges - The Market Place
13 1:21
VIII. Catacombæ
14 2:14
Cum mortius in Lingua morta
15 3:08
IX. The Hut on Fowls’ Legs, “Baba Yaga”
16 4:39
X. The Great Gate of Kiev
KONSTANTIN SCHERBAKOV
SOIRÉE RUSSE
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF (1873-1943)
17 5:05
Elegy E flat minor op.3 no.1
18 3:03
Prelude E flat major op.23 no.6
19 3:17
Prelude in D minor op.23 no.3
20 4:57
Etude-tableaux in E flat minor op.39 no.5
SERGEI PROKOFIEFF (1891-1953)
Sonata no.7 op.83
21 7:30
Allegro inquieto
22 6:27
Andante caloroso
23 3:56
Precipitato
TOTAL: 66:30
booklet konstantin.indd Spread 1 of 8 - Pages(16, 1)
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℗ © 2012 TwoPianists Records
Made in Austria. TP1039114
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