I didn’t want the week-end to sneak up on us without
giving you some music. If you are reader
of this blog, you know that my favorite composer is the great Russian Romantic,
Sergei Rachmaninoff.
Today I have a couple of clips of his Prelude in G
Major, Opus 23, No. 5. Rachmaninoff
wrote the Opus 23 preludes during the period (1901-1903) when he recovered his
composing prowess after the disastrous premiere of his First Symphony. The Preludes are not only wonderful and
emotionally moving, they represent the highest expression of the pianist’s
art. First is a clip of the master
himself, Rachmaninoff, playing the Prelude in a 1923 recording.
I
have another clip, in which you can see the pianist playing. This is from a recital by the great Russian
pianist Emil Gilels.
Gilels was born in 1916. His musical talent was obvious by age five
and he studied under the piano pedagogue, Yakov Tkach, whose incessant drilling
Gilels gave credit to for his phenomenal technique. Gilels studied at the Odessa Conservatory
after his debut at age twelve. Gilels began touring in Russia and Europe to
great success. His planned debut in
America in 1939 was aborted when World War II broke out. During the war, Gilels played a series of
dangerous open-air recitals at the front, for which he was decorated.
After the war, Gilels became one of the first Soviet
pianists to perform extensively in the West, making many records and personal appearances. He suffered a heart attack in 1981 after a
recital in Brussels and his health declined after that. For those of you who believe in government
run medicine, it might be instructive to remember that it is widely believed
that Gilels died in 1986 as the result of receiving the wrong injection from an
incompetent Soviet doctor.
Here’s Gilels' performance of the Prelude from a 1982
recital in Moscow. Enjoy!
And because it’s the week-end, you get a bonus. Here’s Gilels playing Rachmaninoff's famous Prelude in C-Sharp Minor.
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