Rachmaninoff: 9 Etudes-Tableaux Op.39 (Lugansky, Hayroudinoff, Sofronitsky)

where is the quotation of Scriabin in the 8th etude?

I don’t really understand 7 to well. Maybe in the future it’ll grow on me.

To be honest, I am fond of Rach. His brutal, sometimes irony-sharp, music transfigurated into such tenderness... It's breathtaking. And his gipsy, gipnotic elements, ohhh. I love u, Sergey Vassilyevich😍

I am pretty ignorant to the nuances of classical music have never heard these etudes before. But Lugansky's playing on No 4 (especially the end) is so effortless, it feels without thought, and each note joins the next in such unison and feeling of connectedness, it's really amazing. Something about it resonates so strongly and I miss that feeling with other versions.

После такой музыки хочется продать своё пианино

Sofronitsky the best! I wouldn't even compare! His stylistic the most to Rachmaninoff!!!

Восхитительное исполнение шикарных, сложнейших этюдов Рахманинова. Браво!

The greatest in the entire history of music.

These piano pieces are very emotional.
I like to listen to the second, "sea and seagulls", in perfect, silent darkness; the central part makes me think of a wounded bird whirling before crashing into the sea, but still fighting against an invisible enemy. The last notes are sublime.
The Days of Wrath is the third study, the end of which reminds me of a heart in agony that ends up fainting

Etude Tableau no. 7 is said to have been inspired by Scriabin's funeral, which Rachmaninoff attended.

According to Rakh: it is a funeral procession (bars 1-23), accompanied by songs (bars 24-32); it starts to rain (bars 39-69), then a church is heard (bars 70-102). The idea of death therefore dominates this work.

I learned the no. 3 for entering Conservatory of Paris... nice memories :)

Prostitution

I mean he is not wrong... but it's like Rachmaninoff writing an étude, it will get you to the skill but your hands will bleed on the way theree

I prefer these to the concerti. I see clearly now what has bothered me about the concerti, especially the third. Rachmaninoff had tremendous technique and was a very able composer with a unique sense of harmony which he imparted to his music. However, he lacked the fertile and deep imagination necessary to create coherent large scale works. Because his music is so fluent and complex it's easy not to notice this flaw. However, the comparison with these miniature masterpieces underlines what was hard for me to articulate before. Almost certainly my take will be unpopular but it is genuine, based on a lot of listening.

This duds wife either loved him or was always very sore😮

♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

Beautifully

The "last of the Romantic era" is in part a correct expression when referring to Rachmaninov but does not completely do justice to him because of what his music is. He expressed new things with the few opportunities left by the late romantic composers of the 19th century. If one pays attention some mildly innovative 20th century sound in his music can be found (provided the assumption of "sticking to the fashion of his time in exploring new approaches makes a composer relevant" is correct...) New concepts do not necessarily need new systems to be expressed if one is so ingenious to find a way to do so using an old system (provided such new concepts are expressable in that way)!
Without Rachmaninov the history of music would miss the final gem of the tonal system and Ligeti's music would be a little bit different...

Prelude no. 2, in A moll von erster Sammlung hier... ziemlich vorhaben, sehr viel wie Das Sehen Von Traurigkeit. Ohne Traurigkeit erkennen Man kann nicht ein Heiliger werden, es war gesagt; Rachmanoff ist ein Heiliger geworden, von Aphr Adon, der Ungekannter Gott oder Weit Entfernter... Ist nicht soviel Unfrohheit, aber mehr ein heiliges Hinschwinden...

Ein Heiliger, auch einer der Edele Und Grosse Seelen...

Prelude no. 2, in A moll von erster Sammlung hier... ziemlich vorhaben, sehr viel wie Das Sehen Von Traurigkeit. Ohne Traurigkeit erkennen Man kann nicht ein Heiliger werden, es war gesagt; Rachmanoff ist ein Heiliger geworden, von Aphr Adon, der Ungekannter Gott oder Weit Entfernter... Ist nicht soviel Unfrohheit, aber mehr ein heiliges Hinschwinden...

Ein Heiliger, auch einer der Edele Und Grosse Seelen...

No. 8 D moll- Ist wie ein ganzes Buch, selbst- nicht nur Ein Kapital... Ueberhaupt zu schnell gespielt, zu jener aeon... Das Wiederspielen vom der Thema, es kann so breit und tief wie der See sein... am ende er bringte her, wie ein tiefgrundige Mysterium...

I was in a mental hospital when I found this so now this reminds me of the chaos going on inside my head every time I listen to it. I don’t mind the feeling it gives me.

I think a tremendously underrated aspect/texture that R. utilizes (and uses more often as he ages, along with his other signature techniques like bells, marches, chants/chorales, and his famous heartwrenching melodies) is The Swirl (fast, "chittering", chromatic, jagged, "spiky", "almost atonal" swirls of notes that typically sweep up and down the piano. In the lower register, extremely dark and menacing; in the upper register, light, but still with a certain darkness, like dancing on hot coals). For example,
-Op. 39 No. 1 (the viciousness!!!)
-Op. 33 No. 5
-high register parts of Op. 39 No. 6, though it is interspersed with other things so it doesn't feel like a continuous swirl
-2nd movement of Sonata 2 climax (with E minor bells, and cascading sheets of the main "Fibonacci 1-1-2-3-5" motif, pouring down until it hits the very bottom of the keyboard, and then swirls back up into oblivion)
-beginning of 3rd movement coda in Sonata 2 (I commented in that video that those runs sounded like "ripping the notes out the keyboard")
-Variation 15 in Op. 43 Paganini Rhapsody
-Woodwinds in 2nd movement of Op. 45 Symphonic Dances
-Fast parts of 3rd movement of Op. 40 Piano Concerto 4

And perhaps some from earlier, though they feel a bit more "grounded"/"tonal":
-Op. 16 No. 2
-Op. 32 No. 6 (F minor prelude)
-Op. 23 No. 9 (Eb minor prelude)
-the fast C minor bit before the 2nd subject in 1st Movement of 2nd Piano Concerto


I contrast this with Op. 39 No. 3 which opens with fast and chittering high register notes, but those sound more like bells than Swirls. Though in the development/middle of Op. 39 No. 3 there are plenty of Swirls.


I am reminded of Chopin's 2nd sonata 4th movement, "chromatic moaning"/"winds whipping through gravestones".
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When I listen to Prokofiev, I am often blown away by his melodic and harmonic inventiveness (e.g. the melody evolves/leaps in a direction that I would never had had the imagination to take it, or the harmony changes in a way that is crazy on paper, but brilliant in the ear). Rachmaninoff's melodies are much more straightforward (more "motivic"), but it is in his Swirls that I again marvel at music and texture that I would never had had the imagination to create (that I didn't even know the piano could make, before I heard R.'s writing).

When I am at my lowest point in life, this music really fits my mood

Слушаю впервые. Потрясена...Благодарю исполнителей. Бесподобно, музыка пронзает насквозь. Благодарю создателей канала за эти записи.

In what world is this not the best etude set ever?

My piano teacher from Indiana recorded the entire Etude Tableaux, and I've practically memorized how the music is played by him for years, but it only took one listening to realize a better interpretation like on this video.

Beautiful!

4th etude. This is wow🥹🥹🥹

THE best composer

It’s raining 🌧️ outside

Op39 No2 is a remarkable piece. Very slow tempi can make this piece drag (even through it is incredibly beautiful) but Lugansky plays it in quite a passionate way. 39/5 is my favourite - there are some juicy harmonies in this piece. Lugansky is terrific but I actually prefer Hayroudinoff especially the pesante section and how he performs big rit on the massive climax; I really don't like when pianists rush through this.