Variations 9 and 20 are my favorites. 9 is very mysterious, maybe even a little bit eerie to me and 20 is so powerful (and I think an amazing climax), this work is amazing
I like how after the epic headbanging of Variations 19/20 (with an ending that recalls Chopin's 24th Prelude), Rach slips in a slow, quiet, lyrical ending, with a restatement of the Folia theme at the very end.
Ashkenazy's choice to hold the pedal from the last variation into the coda is super cool, makes it sound like wisps of smoke rising from the ashes of a forest fire.
Супер-произведение! Здесь можно услышать джазовые моменты..Сергей Рахманинов замечательный новатор,его музыку трудно с кем-то сравнить..Абсолютные шедевры..
It could be said that with these variations, Rachmaninov continued a very ancient piece of music. It is known as a folia, where a theme is introduced and every 16 measures it will transform into a variation of that theme. The composer took some liberties with this style; I counted a few variations that were longer than 16. But it is a wonderful take of the folia. My personal favorite though is Vivaldi's folia, especially those versions as performed by Il Giardinio Harmonico, and by Hesperion XXI. I have also listened to Corelli's folia, but I find it to soft for my taste, very French, and he was Italian I believe!
Yes but this is a variation on one theme of the folia by corelli thus we are in variation form not in Folia form. And variation form is just up to infinite variations of a simple theme with x amount of measures. To the discretion of the composer.
Tema antigo anterior a Corelli, mas por ele imortalizado, centenas de compositores fizeram variações sobre ess "basso ostinato", aprecio as de Salieri, Liszt e essa de Rachmaninoff.
Michel Mananes Have you heard of Nareh Arghamanyan? She is my favourite on this because of her colorful playing , softer touch ( maybe because of better recording) while being powerful when necessary.
mAnu It appears as though some substance use preceded the writing of the comment about women haha. I’d only use the epithet ‘beast’ to describe the miraculousness of how, say, pianists such as Valentina Lisitsa, Anna Fedorova and many others play certain pieces of music.
gözlerinin içine baka baka somutlaştı acım. bana dokunmaktan bile sakınırken kesip biçiyorsun, parçalıyorsun kırılmadık yer bırakmadığın kalbimi. belki kendinden çoktur verdiğin değer ama verdiğin ızdırap daha çok... beni yordun
Exactly, I can't listen to this without hearing the Sarabande in my ear... Some time ago I thought, someone should do variations of the Sarabande, not knowing that probably the Sarabande was already a variation of the Folia ...
Prefiero pensar que este tema no es de Corelli, sino que nació antes, pero, ha perdurado por siglos y ha sido retomado muchas veces por brillantes ejecutantes y compositores como ahora lo hace Sergio. Hay versiones a solo: th-cam.com/video/WN5DgIx6TCs/w-d-xo.html, trio y diversos instrumentos: th-cam.com/video/5Frq7rjEGzs/w-d-xo.html Escuchen, por favor, también y, con atención al mexicano MM Ponce th-cam.com/video/19hM9Yf1dHY/w-d-xo.html. Los saludo pensando en lo afortunado que somos al poder disfrutar de todas estas opciones desde el renacimiento/barroco hasta los tiempos neurotizantes/contemporaneos. Un abrazo afectuoso a todos.
The first theme used in Liszt's Spanish Rhapsody (immediately after the virtuosistic introduction) reads "Folies d'Espagne", which refers to "La Follia", the theme of these variations by Rachmaninoff. I actually love the second theme used in Liszt's piece, the "Jota".
I suspect that Rachmaninoff spent too much time playing the Wilde Jagd Etude before writing this ... half of the variations sound like they came straight out of Liszt!
I love this version, though it always gives me some chills since Correlli reminds me of the horror video game Ib (the museum theme to be precise). Still, it's a beautiful version !
jj John Yes - the Liszt is based on “La Folia” & another tune (Jota Aragonesa). Correlli & CPE Bach (among many others I’m sure) have composed variations on La Folia. It is often thought of as a Spanish tune but it’s actually Portuguese in origin, and probably quite old.
"Prendre une douce tourterelle baroque et la hacher en goulash comme le ferait un moujik des steppes converti au communisse .... jamais je n'aurais cru Sergei Vassillievich capable d'une telle barbarie " (Jean Dudot. L'essence de la barbarie. Plon 1958)
Did this man just sneak Handel's Sarabande in with the Corelli variations ... Rachmaninov never ceases to amaze me ... but then again, Corelli's theme resembles the sarabande too ... wow ...
Hmm... I'm not a huge fan of this interpretation. I think he uses too much pedal and some of the characters in the variations aren't very clear because of that. His tempi are also kind of all over the place and don't seem super well-thought out. Just my opinion though.
@@johnburniston6525 Well I made this comment 6 years ago, but I played the piece for a conservatory jury, I know the score. The tempi are not always consistent with what's written in the score first of all, but even beyond that they just don't make a lot of sense to me. Everyone's interpretation will be different, so I'm not saying anyone is right or wrong, I'm simply saying I don't agree with his choices. For example, Variation 6 is L'istesso Tempo - meaning same tempo, but he plays it faster. He doesn't seem to read Vivace as faster than Allegro, which I think it's pretty widely understood that it should be. Variations 7 and 11 are not faster than the previous variations, in fact they are a little slower particularly in 11 which I don't agree with. I think both 7 and 11 are a step up in intensity and drive from the previous variations and should not be slower or even the same tempo. Variation 8 is also weird, he starts pretty slow which is fine but after the poco rit, the a tempo is all of a sudden way faster, and then the rest of the variations stays at that faster tempo - why? I also think it's too heavy and too much pedal for this one, there's not enough textural contrast between 8 and 9 because of the sustained bass in 8 which I think should be much more separated. And then he plays 9 slower than 8, or at least slower than the oddly quick tempo 8 took on after the a tempo, when 9 should be a bit faster than 8 due to the un poco piu mosso. But the biggest offender is the final set of variations to me - Variations 18-20. 18 is Allegro con brio, 19 is piu mosso agitato, 20 is piu mosso again. So literally "fast with spirit", "more motion, agitated", and then again "more motion". 19 is faster than 18, but all of a sudden he SLOWS DOWN once those cascading 16ths start. I know it's a difficult section but that is just not acceptable to my ears. That's where the buildup to 20 happens, you lose momentum when you slow down there. And then he does not play 20 any faster than 19 - in fact I think he's playing it slower, which is not how I see it. If Rach wanted the same tempo he would write L'istesso Tempo again, and if he wanted slower than maybe a poco meno mosso or some other descriptive. Piu Mosso is more motion, it should not be slower imo. Again this is all just my opinion. It's Rachmaninoff, the interpretation isn't so strict, and I'm certainly not as accomplished as Ashkenazy.
@@joshuahart153 Well Joshua, thank you for the detailed reply! I will examine the score.Being an amateur,and eager to enjoy this work at 90 years I wanted a bench mark and Ashkenasy seemed to me to play it well.Apologies for being abrupt.Nice to have an professional comment-I have learned something in my old age!! I do find these variations difficult,even the simplest needs a lot of care.Again thanks. John B
Love finding some Rachmaninoff i haven't heard before, thanks
+ThatStrangeGuy 1 My pleasure!
It's pretty impressive. Passionate and mysterious, as well as the ultimate in virtuosity. The epitome of romanticism in music.
Played Corelli's "Follia" variations for an audition once. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Rachmaninov made his own variations as well!
Variations 9 and 20 are my favorites. 9 is very mysterious, maybe even a little bit eerie to me and 20 is so powerful (and I think an amazing climax), this work is amazing
Thank you!! Just discovered this piece and I fell in love. My purpose is to get away from his best-know pieces to discover new ones like this! 🥹
I like how after the epic headbanging of Variations 19/20 (with an ending that recalls Chopin's 24th Prelude), Rach slips in a slow, quiet, lyrical ending, with a restatement of the Folia theme at the very end.
Ashkenazy's choice to hold the pedal from the last variation into the coda is super cool, makes it sound like wisps of smoke rising from the ashes of a forest fire.
Szergej Rachmaninov:Variáció egy Corelli témára Op.42
Téma:Andante 00:05
1.variáció: Poco piú mosso 01:11
2.variáció: L'istesso tempo 01:58
3.variáció: Tempo di menuetto 02:38
4.variáció: Andante 04:09
5.variáció: Allegro (ma non tanto) 04:09
6.variáció: L'istesso tempo 04:30
7.variáció: Vivace 04:50
8.variáció: Adagio misterioso 05:18
9.variáció: Un poco piú mosso 06:15
10.variáció: Allegro scherzando 07:28
11.variáció: Allegro vivace 08:01
12.variáció: L'istesso tempo 08:24
13.variáció: Agitato 09:01
Intermezzo: a tempo rubato 09:33
14.variáció: Andante (come prima) 10:59
15.variáció: L'istesso tempo 12:08
16.variáció: Allegro vivace 13:57
17.variáció: Meno mosso 14:27
18.variáció: Allegro con brio 15:27
19.variáció: Piú mosso. Agitato 15:59
20.variáció: Piú mosso 16:26
Kóda:Andante 17:24
Vladimir Ashkenazy-zongora
Vladimir Ashkenazy is absolutely incredible!!
Listening again on 28 December 2017. Well worth it.
I didn't want it to end! What a musical thought-life Rachmaninov must have had.
Such an interesting footnote Olla! Thank you!
I know that I could sight-read all of these with the possible exception of variations 1-20.
So you can sight-read the Theme and Coda?
Yes.
I believe that was his joke....
the intermezzo tho?
@Rohan Strinivasan That's the joke
14 and 15 are just so beautiful!
this is my favourite rachmaninoff ive heard so far in my life
Have this in one of my books and have yet to play it in whole. Thanks so much for this video so I can read along with the music!
What a neat idea to publish the music as Ash plays it. Thanks for sharing.
The way he tell a story through this music is outstanding.
17:03 This bombardment of chords sound extremely epic and morbid at the same time.
How did I miss this?! I thought I knew most of Rachmaninovs stuff, but these variations are new to me! The guy was not only a genius but prolific.
what a fabulous performance so insightful and very emotional and beautiful
Супер-произведение! Здесь можно услышать джазовые моменты..Сергей Рахманинов замечательный новатор,его музыку трудно с кем-то сравнить..Абсолютные шедевры..
А 26 вариаций на эту же тему - Follia - Антонио Сальери слышали? Особенно хороша кода, где он (спойлер!) раздавил писклявого комара?
It could be said that with these variations, Rachmaninov continued a very ancient piece of music. It is known as a folia, where a theme is introduced and every 16 measures it will transform into a variation of that theme. The composer took some liberties with this style; I counted a few variations that were longer than 16. But it is a wonderful take of the folia. My personal favorite though is Vivaldi's folia, especially those versions as performed by Il Giardinio Harmonico, and by Hesperion XXI. I have also listened to Corelli's folia, but I find it to soft for my taste, very French, and he was Italian I believe!
thanks for interesting information and insight.
Yes but this is a variation on one theme of the folia by corelli thus we are in variation form not in Folia form. And variation form is just up to infinite variations of a simple theme with x amount of measures. To the discretion of the composer.
y gracias por el trabajo de integrar la partitura.
this is my motivation to practice every day
Tema antigo anterior a Corelli, mas por ele imortalizado, centenas de compositores fizeram variações sobre ess "basso ostinato", aprecio as de Salieri, Liszt e essa de Rachmaninoff.
...... les limites merveilleuses d'outre-tombe dépassées ..... l'inimaginable imagintion harmonique.... l'abime du slawe, sans retour.......
Number 4 has a wonderful nostalgic feeling to it
The best Rach - Corelli ever heard
Michel Mananes Have you heard of Nareh Arghamanyan? She is my favourite on this because of her colorful playing , softer touch ( maybe because of better recording) while being powerful when necessary.
@@TheLifeisgood72 wtf
@@TheLifeisgood72 I hope what you said in the other comment was satire
mAnu It appears as though some substance use preceded the writing of the comment about women haha. I’d only use the epithet ‘beast’ to describe the miraculousness of how, say, pianists such as Valentina Lisitsa, Anna Fedorova and many others play certain pieces of music.
@@TheLifeisgood72 It's the 21st century.
9:33 Intermezzo, cadanza style
oh the sweat La Folia sound is also great on the piano. never knew!
Liszt's Spanish rhapsody?
Var. 13 is my favorite! So convulsive, manic, and frantic! My only criticism is that it's too short 😩😩
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18: II. Adagio sostenuto is my absolute favourite!!
Thanks for uploading!
Coughing at 9:31, but he didn't skip the next variation
Variation no.16 reminds me of Rachmaninovs Humoreske op. 10 no. 5.
Гениально , Владимир Ашкенази👏👏👏👏
That Variation 20... 16:26
INCREDIBLE
many years ago i played this, to be young and talented again...
une merveille absolue!
total wahr
Ashkenazy plays this much more than "very well;" his is the best there is of Rachmaninoff Op.42.
Браво! Потрясающе!
I always have a feeling that this is the true Rachmaninoff.
8:24 reminds me of etude tableaux op.33 no.1
Very similar the voice leading in the etude is harder tho
gözlerinin içine baka baka somutlaştı acım. bana dokunmaktan bile sakınırken kesip biçiyorsun, parçalıyorsun kırılmadık yer bırakmadığın kalbimi. belki kendinden çoktur verdiğin değer ama verdiğin ızdırap daha çok... beni yordun
There's a clear difference between the Chopin Variations and the present Corelli Variations. Both in maturity, style, writing, and pianism.
You're everywhere
This is a live recording from Lugano in 1985.
That coda is spooky, and I think I hear a foreshadowing to the Barber nocturne...
8:01 Thumbnail - Variation 11. Allegro Vivace
wonderful
Did anybody else catch that nod to his d-minor etude in variation 10?
extraordinaria versión!
La Folia! They all have been suduced by this old great theme!
Handel's Sarabande? Am I the only one who hears it?
+Daniel Hartnett No, we are two so far :)
+ewamaria8 This theme was peetty popular back then. Vivaldi also composed one, it's named "La Follia" dhould check it out.
+Daniel Hartnett the tune's everywhere. Ashkenazy did an interview on it. Pretty fascinating if you like that sort of thing.
+Daniel Hartnett So true! The first thing I thought too!
I think it's pretty obvious
Браво!!!!!!!!
Gorgeous!
I think Haendel's famous Sarabande was also inspired by the La Folia theme
Exactly, I can't listen to this without hearing the Sarabande in my ear... Some time ago I thought, someone should do variations of the Sarabande, not knowing that probably the Sarabande was already a variation of the Folia ...
i like the original best really beauthifull melody
Prefiero pensar que este tema no es de Corelli, sino que nació antes, pero, ha perdurado por siglos y ha sido retomado muchas veces por brillantes ejecutantes y compositores como ahora lo hace Sergio. Hay versiones a solo: th-cam.com/video/WN5DgIx6TCs/w-d-xo.html, trio y diversos instrumentos: th-cam.com/video/5Frq7rjEGzs/w-d-xo.html Escuchen, por favor, también y, con atención al mexicano MM Ponce th-cam.com/video/19hM9Yf1dHY/w-d-xo.html. Los saludo pensando en lo afortunado que somos al poder disfrutar de todas estas opciones desde el renacimiento/barroco hasta los tiempos neurotizantes/contemporaneos. Un abrazo afectuoso a todos.
very nice!!!!
17 has a strange effect on me. It almost sounds out of tune with how many unexpected key changes there are within one melodic note.
Absolutely! I get chills 5 - 6 bars before the end because the resolution to B flat major is so relaxing. My favorite variation by far.
The theme is corelli's "folia" isn't it?
Yes. La Folia
Yeah!
Not original by Corelli... XD
I can easily play this!
Until 1:14
that just sort of encourages me (unlike liszt )
Yeah, I can also easily play Chopin's Winter Wind Etude! (The first 4 bars)
This set of variations anticipes the Rhapsody, I guess.
Excelente.
Beginning of n. 14, first bar sounds like Raval's Pavanne, am I crazy?
This sounds like the theme to Liszt's Spanish rhapsody. Exactly in fact.
The first theme used in Liszt's Spanish Rhapsody (immediately after the virtuosistic introduction) reads "Folies d'Espagne", which refers to "La Follia", the theme of these variations by Rachmaninoff. I actually love the second theme used in Liszt's piece, the "Jota".
@@RFernandezTeran I see...
Variation 10 is the same theme as the etude tableux in d minor
I suspect that Rachmaninoff spent too much time playing the Wilde Jagd Etude before writing this ... half of the variations sound like they came straight out of Liszt!
So, Rachmaninoff made some variations of the variations..
i loved 14 and 15
Браво
18 19 20 have to be the most techically demanding ones imo
I love this version, though it always gives me some chills since Correlli reminds me of the horror video game Ib (the museum theme to be precise). Still, it's a beautiful version !
is this theme also used in Liszt's work Spanish Rhapsody. It sounds slightly different but pretty much alike, just curious
jj John Yes - the Liszt is based on “La Folia” & another tune (Jota Aragonesa). Correlli & CPE Bach (among many others I’m sure) have composed variations on La Folia. It is often thought of as a Spanish tune but it’s actually Portuguese in origin, and probably quite old.
7:28
13:57 - 17:23 💙
Is this a good beginner piece? If I want to learn to play some more Rachmaninov pieces?
sie ist so schön, ich mag.
"Prendre une douce tourterelle baroque et la hacher en goulash comme le ferait un moujik des steppes converti au communisse .... jamais je n'aurais cru Sergei Vassillievich capable d'une telle barbarie " (Jean Dudot. L'essence de la barbarie. Plon 1958)
Variation 4 is so rachmaninoff
Is intermezzo a parody on Liszt's Hungarian rhapsody #2 (at the beginning at least)?
Dad but not sentimental
Deep but yet reserved
This is the true Rachmaninoff.
This is the Rachmaninoff we love.
What does "Dad but not sentimental " mean?
@@remomazzetti8757 sad but not sentimental
Variation 17 is the best.
Mr.Columbo You should listen to the Java Suite.
What exactly in them reminds of this variation?
Why is this a theme by Corelli? La Folia pre-dates Corelli.
If Rachmaninoff were a whiskey, he would be Highland Park!
4:10
0:01 그분이 생각난다
4:51, 16:26
Did this man just sneak Handel's Sarabande in with the Corelli variations ... Rachmaninov never ceases to amaze me ... but then again, Corelli's theme resembles the sarabande too ... wow ...
very serious and sad music
14 variation
Sounds like Handels Sarabande
A sarabande?
15:26 so fucking hardcoree
Rachmaninov himself called this set "boring". I wonder why.
He didn't
A thousand explanations of why this is not possible...
Hmm... I'm not a huge fan of this interpretation. I think he uses too much pedal and some of the characters in the variations aren't very clear because of that. His tempi are also kind of all over the place and don't seem super well-thought out. Just my opinion though.
Look at the score before you comment All over the place-that is what it is in each variation.
@@johnburniston6525 Well I made this comment 6 years ago, but I played the piece for a conservatory jury, I know the score. The tempi are not always consistent with what's written in the score first of all, but even beyond that they just don't make a lot of sense to me. Everyone's interpretation will be different, so I'm not saying anyone is right or wrong, I'm simply saying I don't agree with his choices.
For example, Variation 6 is L'istesso Tempo - meaning same tempo, but he plays it faster. He doesn't seem to read Vivace as faster than Allegro, which I think it's pretty widely understood that it should be. Variations 7 and 11 are not faster than the previous variations, in fact they are a little slower particularly in 11 which I don't agree with. I think both 7 and 11 are a step up in intensity and drive from the previous variations and should not be slower or even the same tempo.
Variation 8 is also weird, he starts pretty slow which is fine but after the poco rit, the a tempo is all of a sudden way faster, and then the rest of the variations stays at that faster tempo - why? I also think it's too heavy and too much pedal for this one, there's not enough textural contrast between 8 and 9 because of the sustained bass in 8 which I think should be much more separated. And then he plays 9 slower than 8, or at least slower than the oddly quick tempo 8 took on after the a tempo, when 9 should be a bit faster than 8 due to the un poco piu mosso.
But the biggest offender is the final set of variations to me - Variations 18-20. 18 is Allegro con brio, 19 is piu mosso agitato, 20 is piu mosso again. So literally "fast with spirit", "more motion, agitated", and then again "more motion". 19 is faster than 18, but all of a sudden he SLOWS DOWN once those cascading 16ths start. I know it's a difficult section but that is just not acceptable to my ears. That's where the buildup to 20 happens, you lose momentum when you slow down there. And then he does not play 20 any faster than 19 - in fact I think he's playing it slower, which is not how I see it. If Rach wanted the same tempo he would write L'istesso Tempo again, and if he wanted slower than maybe a poco meno mosso or some other descriptive. Piu Mosso is more motion, it should not be slower imo.
Again this is all just my opinion. It's Rachmaninoff, the interpretation isn't so strict, and I'm certainly not as accomplished as Ashkenazy.
@@joshuahart153 Well Joshua, thank you for the detailed reply! I will examine the score.Being an amateur,and eager to enjoy this work at 90 years I wanted a bench mark and Ashkenasy seemed to me to play it well.Apologies for being abrupt.Nice to have an professional comment-I have learned something in my old age!! I do find these variations difficult,even the simplest needs a lot of care.Again thanks. John B
Joshua who do you like playing these variations? Thanks JB.
My favorite LaFolia
진짜대박
Sorry, could you type that in English please?
olla-vogala Thank for your great playing!! I play this music every day. You are good^^
Thank you, you are very welcome! :)
Theme from Pirates and Carabin.........