Sergei RACHMANINOV (1873-1943)

The "Elegiac" Piano Trios Trio élégiaque No.1 in G minor, Op.posth. Trio élégiaque No.2 in D minor, Op.9 THE BORODIN TRIO Rostislav Dubinsky violin · Luba Edlina piano · Yuli Turovsky cello CHANDOS CHAN 8341 [65:46] full-price

It was around his thirteenth birthday that Rachmaninov was in the thick of things composing and mingling with the great composers of Russia, notably Tchaikovsky who had a profound influence on him. Rachmaninov had already completed the transcription of Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony for a piano duet (no one seems to have recorded this piece). It is said that Rachmaninov was so caught up in the fever of composing his first symphony that he wrote the first Trio élégiaque in just three days, between 18th and 21st January 1892. Within nine days of its composition he performed the trio, accompanying the violinist David Krein and cellist Anatole Brandukov at the Vosttrykov Hall.

The Trio élégiaque No.1 in G minor is a short work of 15 minutes. Being a lover of piano music, I was listening for the subtleties of the piano against the backdrop of the other two instruments. However one is immediately drawn to the two stringed instruments as well. Being the noted pianist that Rachmaninov was, the piano accompaniment clearly shows the stature of the great composer and this part is never downplayed, despite the cello's more prominent part for expression.

The piece is creatively mellifluous, yet mournfully expressive. It is said that Rachmaninov never willed for the piece to be extended beyond the 1st movement. This piece is also in the mould of one of his songs "Oh stay, my love, forsake me not" - dedicated to Anna Lodizhenskaya, a married lady of gypsy extraction whom Rachmaninov had first met the previous year. His feelings for her bordered on dangerous obsession, although the true extent of their relationship has never been established. It is also quite evident here that Rachmaninov now (aged 19) started to showed his true characteristics as a mature composer. Mikhail Bukinik, a fellow conservatory student, said of Sergei in his late teens:

"And in this gathering there is Sergei Rachmaninov. Tall and gaunt, his broad shoulders give him a rectangular appearance. His long face is highly expressive... his hair is unruly, he smokes incessantly, speaks with a deep voice, and although he is our exact contemporary, seems somehow a great deal older. Everyone knows about the brilliant new pieces he composes for Professor Arensky, his profound structural instincts, extraordinary sight reading ability, perfect pitch and infectious enthusiasm for Tchaikovsky's music..."

The Trio élégiaque No.2 in D minor Op.9 (1893) is, truly as the title suggests, really very elegiac in nature. This time the work is dedicated to Tchaikovsky, who was also suffering a similar fate, having to compose his Trio in A minor to the memory of his friend, Nikolai. It is quite evident that Rachmaninov was going through a tough period as he (Tchaikovsky) mentioned to Natalya Skalon in a letter that "he trembled for every phrase, sometimes crossed out absolutely everything and began to think and think about it all over again."

The piece begins in an extremely melancholic manner as the cello takes its long bowstrokes in a minor key. It seems that when any composer writes in D minor the tragic nature of the work is truly accentuated - examples like the Sibelius Violin Concerto, the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.3 and Schumann's Violin Concerto (which is seldom played or recorded - we just heard it here in Singapore) display this distinctly. [And BACH, BACH, BACH. - Ed.]. This time round the grief of the death of Tchaikovsky clearly shows the pain that Rachmaninov was going through.

The Borodin Trio, comprising Russians, is in perfect alliance with their fellow countryman. Their phrasing has to be highly recommended: it is allowed to linger as the piano accompaniment paints the kind of remorse heard in Rachmaninov's Piano Concertos. While I was impressed by the intimate pianism, it was also the spacious tempos which allowed them to sound ever more clearly. The Borodin Trio tends to give you that no-nonsense approach to interpretation - I have found that often the melancholy can sound rather exaggerated by using extreme metronome markings, but they have a way at shaping the music so that their approach moves outwardly to encompass the music's larger paragraphs. A good point is that the piano is not left to singly dictate the pace, as compared to many other pianists who would think that they have the right of way to race through the music, believing that Rachmaninov had expected the part to be played at a blistering pace.

On analysis, the various ideas within the Trio have a tendency to sprawl, when compared with his recent Piano Concerto (the First). The lengthy central theme and variations completely overshadows the relatively terse finale. Rachmaninov did comment that "[w]hile composing it [the trio], all my thoughts, feeling, energies were fully engaged... I fought for every idea."

The second movement, Quazi Variazone, is a set of variations on the main theme of Rachmaninov's orchestral fantasy The Rock. Once again it is the piano that takes the central role - it also has a well-crafted cadenza, and there is even a variation that was to pervade the First Symphony of 1895. Rachmaninov in his later years made minor changes to the work and replaced the sixth variation with a trio and even remarked after the addition that "after the trio there must be nothing else, because it is so long and grave". However this was not to be the final cut as the composer did make some minor changes in 1917 and it is this edition that we have today, which is used for this recording.

For those that have come to love Rachmaninov and I mean not just for his piano works but orchestral works as well, this is definitely a disc to be added to your repertoire or collection. For those wondering if he wrote any quartet music, well he did in fact left two String Quartets unfinished (they survive in two movements each). I am also on the look out for his cello Sonata in G minor, Op.19 which I understand is of great stature as well.

The Right Hand of Rachmaninov

Johann D'Souza has suddenly developed this penchant for smoked oysters and has been slurping it up - four cans so far in the last one week.

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