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.'