Given that it was the existence of a recording of Rachmaninoff playing his own Second Piano Concerto that woke me up to the magic of historical recordings, I couldn’t be more excited when I heard rumours that an unofficial recording of Rachmaninoff had been found. And when Marston Records, prior to their public announcement, asked me to help create an introductory video and do some online promotion as I had for the Landmarks volume that included some previously unknown Lipatti recordings that I helped locate, I was beyond delighted…. and once I heard the actual playing itself, I was absolutely mesmerized. It was even more incredible than I had expected.

A summary of the recording that has been found is told – and samples included – in the video I produced:

The playing on display in the entire performance of the Symphonic Dances is thoroughly remarkable: soaring phrasing, expansive rubato, gorgeous dynamic shadings, magical pedal effects… everything even beyond the very high standard of Rachmaninoff’s brilliant studio recordings. As Ira Levin discusses in his wonderful essay in the booklet, it raises questions about the different style of playing he may have had in concert from what we are familiar with in his officially sanctioned studio-produced discs. You can read Levin’s terrific essay ‘A Musician’s Reaction’ about two thirds of the way down at this link on the Marston website (click the Liner Notes tab under the photo), after Richard Taruskin’s remarkably informative exploration of this recording:

https://www.marstonrecords.com/collections/frontpage/products/rachmaninoff

This is quite simply one of the most important historical recordings ever to have been located and its release on September 4, 2018 is something that all musicians should look forward to with great anticipation.