HUANGCI,CLAIRE - Rachmaninov Preludes (Sealed) (CD)

After her last, highly acclaimed release of all Chopin nocturnes, the Chinese-US American pianist Claire Huangci dedicates herself to the next piano giant at the other end of Romanticism: Sergei Rachmaninov and his 24 Pr?ludes. According to Claire Huangci, in recent years she has felt increasingly drawn to complete cycles of works "in order to better understand the longer bows in a composer's life.” This is particularly interesting for Rachmaninov and his 24 Pr?ludes from a total of three Opuses, as they were created within 18 years. In 1892 Rachmaninov laid the foundation stone with the Pr?lude in C sharp minor op. 3 No. 2, which quickly developed into one of his most famous works. The audience's constant desire for encores prompted the composer in 1921 to say "I like other Pr?ludes much better". Understandably, considering that the Pr?lude was constantly associated with non-musical "programs". "If we are to recognize the psychology of Preludes, let it be understood that his function is not to express a mood, but to bring it about." Applied to Rachmaninov's Preludes as a whole, this statement illustrates Rachmaninov's attempt to embrace a variety of emotions. The 10 Pr?ludes op. 23 from 1903 and the 13 Pr?ludes op. 32 from 1910 complete the double dozen and make the Russian composer's compositional development clear: "One can hear the transition. Rachmaninov's music became more complex, more contrapuntal; it became harmonically interesting and exciting." (Pianist Alexius Wissenberg)