Rakhmaninov

01/07/2011
Evan Meagher
Readings Monthly (Australia)

Melbourne-born Leslie Howard is one of the world’s most highly regarded pianists. Having recorded the complete piano music of Liszt...he brings us another world first, this time for our own Melba Records – the coupling of the two Rachmaninov piano sonatas, featuring the original 1913 version of the second sonata. The original version was considered too difficult for pianists at the time, and is still rarely heard today. It is a wonderful work, with impossibly thick cascading chords that Howard deftly manages, confidently expressing the work’s rich harmonies and textures. The disc also includes several miniatures, including a haunting arrangement of the fifth movement of the Vespers.