Progetto Martha Argerich

italiano

Works

Sergey Rachmaninov

6 morceaux for Piano, Four Hands op. 11

 

Alongside his three works for two pianos (two suites and a Russian Rhapsody in E minor, dating from 1891), the catalogue of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s compositions also includes Six Duets for Piano Four Hands, Op. 11, dating from April 1894. Geoffrey Norris, an important Rachmaninoff scholar, gives these pieces rather short shrift (he claims that they are noteworthy “neither for mastery nor for invention”), but they are in reality six delightful little miniatures in which, along with quite open tributes to Chopin, one notices a Russian melodic vein that is rather rare in the composer’s output.

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1. Barcarolle
2. Scherzo
3. Chanson russe
4. Valse
5. Romance
6. Slava (Gloria)

Performers

Performance