About this Recording
8.550117 - RACHMANINOV: Piano Concerto No. 2 / Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

Sergey Rachmaninov (1873 - 1943)

Piano Concerto No.2 in C Minor, Opus 18
Adagio sostenuto
Allegro scherzando
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Opus 43




In 1897 Rachmaninov's first symphony had been performed in St. Petersburg under the direction of Glazunov, who, according to his wife's later account, was drunk at the time. The work was badly played and received a hostile critical reception. Cesar Cui, indeed, a surviving member of the Mightly Handful, the five leading Russian nationalist composers, described it as a student programme symphony of the Seven Plagues of Egypt, an unflattering judgement that contributed to the composer's depression and loss of confidence.





The Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini was written in the space of a few weeks in 1934 and is based on the theme used by Paganini as the basis of a set of solo violin variations that form the last of his 24 Caprices. The melody was to serve other composers, such as Brahms and Liszt, and has continued to do so.

To Rachmaninov the Paganini theme suggested the complementary use of another, more ancient melody, that of the sequence that once formed part of the Latin Requiem Mass, the Dies irae. This second melody, which Rachmaninov had used appropriately enough in The Isle of the Dead, was to appear again in his final work, the Symphonic Dances of 1940. It had served other 19th century composers as a symbol of death, whether in the Symphonie fantastique of Berlioz, in Liszt's TotentanzThird Suite.

Although the Rhapsody seems in origin to have had no programmatic significance, the composer provided a narrative explanation for Fokin's ballet Paganini, the choreographic version of the legend according to which the great violinist had sold his soul, Faust-like, to the Devil in return for perfection as a violinist and for the love of a woman (romantic rumours that Paganini himself had been at pains to contradict). The Dies irae is taken to represent the Devil, while the original theme is Paganini himself. Certainly the variations that make up the Rhapsody include episodes of lyrical tenderness, forming a central section of romantic intensity, followed by what might seem the brilliant diablerie of the last six of the 24 variations.

Jeno Jandó

Budapest Symphony Orchestra

Gyorgy Lehel
The distinguished Hungarian conductor Gyorgy Lehel was born in Budapest in 1926 and studied composition with pal Kadosa and composition with Laszlo Somogyi, making his debut as a conductor in 1947. He was appointed principal conductor and music director of the Budapest Symphony Orchestra in 1962 and appeared in 1968 with the orchestra at the Cheltenham Festival, where he conducted first performances of music by Gordon Crosse and Elizabeth Maconchy.

In a busy career Lehel has performed extensively in Hungary and abroad, in Western and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, the United States of America, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. His many recordings include a considerable amount of music by Liszt and Bartok, and he has long been known for the great encouragement he has consistently given to younger Hungarian composers. The many awards he has received include the Liszt Prize in Hungary and an Honorary Doctorate of Music from the Chicago Conservatory.

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