Notes and Editorial Reviews
This re-release of William Kapell's 1951 recording of Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini with Fritz Reiner and the Robin Hood Dell Orchestra will hopefully serve as a corrective to the many pianists who take this work at dreadfully slow tempos. The fleet and bright Kapell-Reiner reading makes this work's theme and 24 variations cohere in a way that eludes so many other interpretations--as an extended, precise, and often frenetic dance and thus not, in this way, unlike Ravel's 'Bolero.' Such a reading not only teases out a most appropriate Paganinian mania in the faster variations but also rescues the slower ones, like the eighth (here given a cool, easy swing), from sounding like dirges.
Whether under the direction of Reiner
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or, as with the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2, under William Steinberg, the woodwind soloists of the Robin Hood Dell Orchestra are exemplary, while the strings (especially under Reiner) shimmer. The concerto possesses many moments that require careful advanced staging; otherwise, the work runs the risk of sounding tunefully episodic. With Steinberg keeping the ensemble super-tight throughout all three movements, he and Kapell stage these moments brilliantly. Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Concerto for Piano no 2 in C minor, Op. 18 by Sergei Rachmaninov
Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Conductor:
William Steinberg
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Robin Hood Dell Orchestra of Philadelphia
Period: Romantic
Written: Russia
Date of Recording: 07/07/1950
Venue: Academy of Music, Philadelphia, PA
Length: 31 Minutes 1 Secs.
Notes: Composition written: Russia (1900 - 1901).
2.
Morceaux de fantaisies (5), Op. 3: no 2, Prélude in C sharp minor by Sergei Rachmaninov
Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1892; Russia
Date of Recording: 03/19/1945
Venue: Studio no 2, RCA Studios, New York City
Length: 3 Minutes 58 Secs.
3.
Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, Op. 43 by Sergei Rachmaninov
Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Conductor:
Fritz Reiner
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Robin Hood Dell Orchestra of Philadelphia
Period: Romantic
Written: 1934; USA
Date of Recording: 06/27/1951
Venue: Academy of Music, Philadelphia, PA
Length: 21 Minutes 58 Secs.
4.
Preludes (24) for Piano, Op. 34: no 24 in D minor, Allegretto by Dmitri Shostakovich
Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1932-1933; USSR
Date of Recording: 12/11/1944
Venue: Studio no 2, RCA Studios, New York City
Length: 1 Minutes 11 Secs.
5.
Preludes (24) for Piano, Op. 34: no 10 in C sharp minor, Moderato non troppo by Dmitri Shostakovich
Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1932-1933; USSR
Date of Recording: 12/11/1944
Venue: Studio no 2, RCA Studios, New York City
Length: 1 Minutes 54 Secs.
6.
Preludes (24) for Piano, Op. 34: no 5 in D major, Allegro vivace by Dmitri Shostakovich
Performer:
William Kapell (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1932-1933; USSR
Date of Recording: 12/11/1944
Venue: Studio no 2, RCA Studios, New York City
Length: 0 Minutes 26 Secs.
Sound Samples
Introduction: Allegro vivace; Varaiation I: (Precedente)
Variation II: L'istesso tempo
Variation III: L'istesso tempo
Variation V: Tempo precedente
Variation VI: L'istesso tempo
Variation VII: Meno mosso, a tempo moderato
Variation IX: L'istesso tempo
Variation X: Poco marcato
Variation XII: Tempo di minuetto
Variation XIV: L'istesso tempo
Variation XV: Più vivo scherzando
Variation XVI: Allegretto
Variation XVII: [Allegretto]
Variation XVIII: Andante cantabile
Variation XIX: A tempo vivace
Variation XX: Un poco più vivo
Variation XXI: Un poco più vivo
Variation XXII: Un poco più vivo (Alla breve)
Variation XXIII: L'istesso tempo
Variation XXIV: A tempo un poco meno mosso
Prelude in C-Sharp Minor, Op.3, No. 2
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