PROVOCATIVE THOUGHTS: 
The late Patric Standford may have written these short pieces deliberately to provoke our feedback. If so, his success is reflected in the rich range of readers' comments appearing at the foot of most of the pages.
Yoav Levanon - Sergei Rachmaninoff: Études-Tableaux Op 39
5054197822513 (Warner Classics, CD)
FIRST RELEASE (9 February 2024)
Tracks: 9
Booklet pages: 0
℗ 2024 Parlophone Records Ltd
© 2024 Parlophone Records Ltd
Reviewer: Geoff Pearce
Review of Yoav Levanon - Sergei Rachmaninoff: Études-Tableaux Op 39 published on 6 February 2024
Yoav Levanon, piano
Sergei Rachmaninov:
Études-Tableaux, Op 39
1 Allegro Agitato
2 Lento assai
3 Allegro molto
4 Allegro assai
5 Appassionato
6 Allegro
7 Lento lugubre
8 Allegro moderato
9 Allegro moderato. Tempo di marcia
Completed in 1917, the Études-Tableaux became the composer's last works before his exile from Russia. When asked about the pictorial evocations of these ambitious and harmonically complex pieces, Rachmaninov said: 'That is for me and not for the public ...'
As Yoav Levanon observes, each of the nine harmonically complex Études-Tableaux conjures up its own, distinctive world:
'The Études-Tableaux are musical paintings that can be viewed from many different angles. That's what makes the whole collection so amazing and so rich. They explore the possibilities of the eighty-eight keys of the piano, telling stories as they create different planes of colour, sound and atmosphere.'