Albums of the week: Boris Giltburg plays Rachmaninov; LSO performs Ravel

By Damián Autorino
Editor at Moto Perpetuo

Giltburg’s Rachmaninov: A pianist’s emotional and intellectual exploration

RACHMANINOV: SONATAS 1 & 2; THE ISLE OF THE DEAD | BORIS GILTBURG: PIANO
Released February 14 (Naxos). To listen, click here.

Boris Giltburg is widely recognized as a leading interpreter of Rachmaninov’s works. In previous recordings, we’ve had the opportunity to hear him perform his concertos, the 24 Preludes, and other pieces. In this album, recently released, he tackles Rachmaninov’s two piano sonatas and a piano arrangement of the orchestral work The Isle of the Dead.
Interpreting Rachmaninov on the piano requires not only exceptional technique and virtuosity (qualities Giltburg has amply demonstrated), but also a deep emotionality. This is a trait that Giltburg possesses, and he adds to it a profound study of the works and an evident admiration for the composer.
Giltburg’s intellectual knowledge and analysis of the pieces can be observed in the album booklet (fortunately, some streaming apps like Apple Classics or Idagio include the booklets). In it, we can follow his reflections on what he plays, often with precise timecodes indicating when these thoughts align with the music in the tracks.
While Sonata No. 1 is not a programmatic work, Rachmaninov once mentioned that it was inspired by three characters from Faust: Gretchen, Mephistopheles, and Faust himself. Giltburg takes this idea and, in his notes, offers a detailed description of how each section of the sonata relates to these characters.
Regarding Sonata No. 2, Giltburg is a strong advocate for the revised version. It’s also fascinating to read his commentary on the differences between the original and the revised versions.
Perhaps the highlight of the album is the performance of The Isle of the Dead. It’s rare to hear this orchestral piece transcribed for piano, a work Rachmaninov wrote inspired by the painting of the same name by Arnold Böcklin. Giltburg took the piano transcription by Soviet musicologist Georgy Kirkor and, based on it, created his own version, which he notes is more difficult to play but closer to the original orchestral texture.
It is well known that Rachmaninov composed the piece using a black-and-white copy of the painting. Giltburg offers another intriguing observation: in his view, the piano version is “a black and white version of the colorful orchestral original: a kind of parallel in reverse with the black-and-white printing that inspired Rachmaninov.”

OVERVIEW
Boris Giltburg was born in Moscow in 1984 and began his first piano lessons with his mother at the age of five. He later trained in Israel with pianist and conductor Arie Vardi. Giltburg’s competition successes include second prize at the Rubinstein Competition in 2011 and first prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition two years later. His early recordings include Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition for Warner Classics in 2006 (‘the 22-year-old Russian is completely inside Mussorgsky’s multiple personalities’ – BBC Music Magazine), a live recital from the Miami International Piano Festival in the same year (available on DVD from VAI), and Prokofiev’s War Sonatas on Orchid Classics. In 2015, he signed a long-term contract with Naxos, for whom he has recorded solo piano works by Beethoven, Schumann, and Rachmaninov, as well as concertos by Prokofiev and Rachmaninov. His discography also includes Dvořák’s Piano Quintet with the Pavel Haas Quartet on Supraphon, which won a Gramophone Award in 2018.

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Pappano and the LSO bring Ravel’s colours to life

RAVEL: DAPHNIS ET CHLOÉ | LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA | TENEBRAE | ANTONIO PAPPANO: CONDUCTOR
Released February 14 (LSO Live). To listen, click here.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of Maurice Ravel’s birth and the 25th anniversary of the LSO Live record label. A perfect occasion to celebrate both milestones with the release of this album, recorded live at the Barbican Centre in April last year.
Ravel described Daphnis et Chloé as a symphonie chorégraphique (choreographic symphony). The work is, without a doubt, a true “treatise on orchestration,” rich in nuances and textures, pushing the boundaries of conventional orchestral writing.
The LSO, under the direction of its chief conductor Antonio Pappano, rises to the challenge. Equally impressive is the work of the sound engineers, who successfully capture the piece’s intricate textures and its abrupt dynamic shifts.
A special mention goes to the 38 voices of the wordless Tenebrae Choir, seamlessly blending into the orchestral fabric. Pappano notes that significant effort went into achieving this balance, working closely with the choir’s director, Nigel Short. Together with the singers, they aimed to envelop Ravel’s music in the broadest possible spectrum of sounds, colours, and nuances—an effort that is fully realised in the recording, where choir and orchestra merge seamlessly, bringing Ravel’s vision to life with remarkable depth and clarity.

OVERVIEW
Daphnis et Chloé is a 1912 choreographic symphony by Maurice Ravel, composed for orchestra and wordless chorus. Initially presented as a ballet, it is now frequently performed in concert form. The piece, based on a 2nd-century Greek romance, depicts the love story of Daphnis, a goatherd, and Chloé, a shepherdess. Known for its lush harmonies and intricate orchestration, Daphnis et Chloé remains one of Ravel’s most celebrated works, often seen as a pinnacle of orchestral composition, with its emotional depth and rich textures.