The Rachmaninov Lover's Home Page
It is tempting to explain Sergey Vasil'yevich
Rachmaninov's lifelong outward stoicism, the icy demeanor he
always exhibited when performing, as a protective mechanism
acquired slowly and painfully in his youth, when one difficulty
after another presented itself to a sensitive, naturally
withdrawn young man who was nevertheless determined to make his
way in the world as a musician. He had little help from his
parents. His father squandered the famiIy fortune so quickly that
Sergey was only nine years old when he saw the estate at Novgorod
where they had lived, the last of their property, auctioned off
to pay debts.
The family moved to St. Petersburg and Rachmaninov continued
his piano studies at the Conservatory. But soon, when a
diphtheria epidemic swept the city, his sister Sofiya died. Not
long after that his parents separated. Young Sergey reacted by
failing all his final examinations at school (he was then
twelve). As a consequence the promising pianist was shipped off
to Moscow, where he would live and study with the strict
disciplinarian Nikolay Zverev. Life with Zverev was no picnic:
the day began at 6:00 a.m. and included a stiff regimen of
communal practice, group and private instruction and attendance
at various concerts in the city. In a while, Rachmaninov was able
to transfer to the senior division of the Moscow Conservatory,
taking more of his classes outside the Zverev household. But
when, in order to compose without the constant distraction of his
housemates' practice, he asked for a private room, Zverev obliged
by kicking him out. They did not exchange words for three years.
By that time Rachmaninov was studying piano with his cousin
Alexander Ziloti and composing prolifically. He would endure
further hardships, but at least his genius was also being
recognized, and he began to gather champions to his cause. An
early convert was the older composer Peter Tchaikovsky, who
attended the performance of his graduation piece, the opera
Aleko. Tchaikovsky was to have conducted another early
Rachmaninov work, the symphonic fantasy The Rock, but he
died before being able to do so (Rachmaninov responded by writing
an Elegiac Trio in his memory). Another ambitious early
work. the Symphony No 1 in D minor, suffered a worse fate.
It was premiered during the 1896 Russian Symphony Concert season
but the conductor (Alexander Glazunov) was drunk and delivered an
incoherent, unfeeling performance. The reviews were uniformly
bad. Rachmaninov went into a deep depression and composed almost
nothing for another three years.
In the end, the young composer consulted everyone from Leo
Tolstoy to a medical hypnotist. The hypnotist proved most
successful. After several weeks treatment, Rachmaninov rejoined
the community of active creators. Along with his happy marriage
to a cousin, Natalya Satina, and the eventual birth of two
children, Sergey Rachmaninov began to enjoy international acclaim
as a pianist, conductor, and composer. His most popular piano
concerto, the Second, was written in 1900 and 1901. The Second
Symphony, the symphonic poem The Isle of the Dead, and
a number ot other important works followed in the next several
years.
Rachmaninov:
Piano Concerto No. 3 and Sonata No. 1
Frank Wiens, Piano
Paul Freeman
Slovakia National Orchestra Fanfare Records #3540
Hyperlinks below are to MPEG-3 (.mp2) audio
excerpts, for which you will need to download the player WINAMP.
Rachmaninov wrote the Third Piano Concerto for his
first American tour undertaken in 1909. Its beauties are perhaps
more subtle than those of the Second Concerto and it has
taken a bit longer to win wholehearted approval from both critics
and the public. After the first performance. the New York Sun
offered typical remarks:
The concerto was too long and it lacked rhythmic and
harmonic contrast between the first movement and the rest of
the concerto. The opening theme is tinged with melancholy
[which] does not rise as did Tchaikovsky's to the pitch of
surging passion or high tragedy. Rachmaninov has been looked
to as likeliest after Glazunov to attain broad nationalism of
idea and expression. He has not done so in this concerto
unless the outside world is laboring under a delusion as to
what real Russia is.
The Russian press was kinder, not to mention more perceptive.
Wrote Grigory Prokofiev in Russkiye Vedemosh:
The new concerto mirrored the best sides of Rachmaninov's
creative power: simplicity, sincerity and clarity of musical
thought. It has a freshness of inspiration that doesn't
aspire to the discovery of new paths. It has a sharp and
laconic form as well as simple and brilliant orchestration.
Much of the works "clarity of musical thought" is
due to its composer's careful re-use and transformation of
thematic material. The lively scherzo
that interrupts the slow movement for example is a rhythmic
variation of the first movement's opening
theme. And the last movement utilizes previously introduced
themes and rhythms for much of its material. Listen to the rhythm
of the first piano theme and compare
it with that same first-movement opening. The pounding second subject is even more
obviously related to this rhythm. Yet it is not merely such
thematic unity that provides satisfaction to the listener.
Rachmaninov's characteristic melancholy, his dignified evocation
of folk tune (or is it cathedral hymn?) in the simplest
orchestral garb -- piano octaves, solo winds in the orchestra --
is immediately effective. And when the piece eventually rises to heights of drama and color, there is
nothing forced, nothing artificial. The listener has experienced
not merely a stunning display of pianistic virtuosity but an
overwhelming emotional catharsis as well.
The First Piano Sonata dates from 1907, only slightly
earlier than the Third Concerto.Rachmaninov was
characteristically modest about the work's prospects, stating
that "no one will ever play this work because of its
difficulty and length and perhaps too... because of its dubious
musical merits." In fact the sonata is extremely
interesting, not the least due to its hidden program. That the
work was inspired by Goethe's Faust and that its three
movements seek to portray in turn Faust, Gretchen (Margareta),
and Mephistopheles was not revealed even to Konstantin Igumnov,
who gave its first performances. Yet a number of musical ideas in
thls sonata can only be explained in terms of this program. For
example, according to Rachmaninov scholar Barrie Martyn,
The Faustian motto with which the sonata opens consists of
two elements: the first starkly
arches the interval of a fifth in quiet questioning; the
second, marked forte, peremptorily dismisses the preceding
phrase and emphatically asserts a perfect cadence. The
juxtaposition of abruptly contrasting dynamics and of doubt
and certainty seems to reflect the struggle of opposing
aspirations that goes on in the mind of Faust and Everyman.*
Following this, a second theme is introduced and worked up
into a state of great agitation, perhaps representing the turmoil
in Faust's mind. The piano writing becomes extremely
virtuosic, approaching symphonic scope.
The second movement is more straightforward. Although we hear
the first movement's "Faust" motive again, the dominant
theme is a gentle diatonic melody reflecting Gretchen's purity
and simplicity. The last movement, another pianistic tour de
force, depicts the witches' fight to the Brocken. Walpurgis Night
and Mephistopheles. Its emphasis on dynamics and rhythm rather
than melody is similar to the approach used in the finale of the
Third Concerto. Listen, however, to the plot thicken as
Gretchen's melody reappears. "Mephistopheles"
interrupts it repeatedly, until at length the music moves to a
truly devilish climax, throwing in the ancient Dies irae
theme for good measure.
--Lyn and Lawrence Schenbeci
* Rachmaninoff: Composer, Pianist, Conductor. London:
Scolar Press, 1990, p. 188.
Frank Wiens
Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Frank Wiens began his
professional career in 1974, performing around the globe and
throughout most of the United States. He has concertized to wide
critical acclaim, including highly praised recitals in New York
and London and a debut on the European continent at the
Brahmssaal of the Musikverein in Vienna in 1987. Twice, he has
toured South Korea by invitation of a Korean arts management.
Mr Wiens was the winner of major awards in several prestigious
competitions, such as the North American Young Artist
Competition. the Southwest Pianists Foundation Competition, and
the Three Rivers Piano Competition. His penformances have been
broadcast on National Public Radio and Public Television, and he
has been a touring artist with the California Arts Councils.
While receiving critical recognition for performances ranging
from Mozart to Copland, he has long been identified as a leading
exponent of the virtuoso literature of the Russian Romantic and
modern schools. He was invited to tour the Soviet Union in 1991
in numerous solo and concerto engagements as part of the
celebrations of the 1OOth anniversary of the birth of Serge
Prokofieff. The Russian press applauded his "technical
brilliance and clarity of color, richness of imagery, and
sincerity of performance...a nobility of artistic manner... Frank
Wiens is a brilliant representative of the American school of
piano technique.
Since 1976 Mr Wiens has held the position of Professor of
Piano at the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music in
Stockton, California.
Maestro Paul Freeman
With over 100 recordings, Freeman has distinguished himself as
one of the world's preeminent conductors. He has led over 95
orchestras in 23 countries, including the Chicago and Cleveland
Orchestras and the New York, Leningrad, Warsaw, Royal and London
Philharmonics. Freeman is currently music director of the
renowned Chicago Sinfonietta and music director emeritus of
Canada's Victoria Symphony. He also served as principal guest
conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic and associate conductor of
the Dallas and Detroit Symphonies.
Mail check or money order to Frank Wiens, 6845 Cumberland
Place, Stockton, CA 95209 (orders may be confirmed by calling him
at (209) 951-9243) or by e-mail to Frank Wiens.
Other Links
Other
Recordings of Rachmaninoff works
3rd
Concerto Page: History and discography
Quicktime Movie
(3.6Mb) of Barry Douglas playing Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.
2
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