Sergei Rachmaninoff plays his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Score)

Sergei Rachmaninoff (Piano) plays his The Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Op. 43) with Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski (conductor). Score video.
Recording Date: December 24, 1934 (RCA Victor Red Seal).
Date of Work: 3 July - 18 August 1934.
Premiere Date: 7 November 1934
Premiere players: Sergei Rachmaninoff (Piano), Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski (conductor).
0:04 Introduction
0:11 Variation 1
0:32 Tema
0:52 Variation 2
1:11 Variation 3
1:36 Variation 4
2:06 Variation 5
2:36 Variation 6
3:27 Variation 7
4:27 Variation 8
5:00 Variation 9
5:32 Variation 10 (DIES IRAE)
6:22 Variation 11
7:36 Variation 12
8:55 Variation 13
9:23 Variation 14
10:10 Variation 15
11:14 Variation 16
12:30 Variation 17
14:14 Variation 18
16:59 Variation 19
17:28 Variation 20
18:05 Variation 21
18:31 Variation 22
20:10 Variation 23
20:59 Variation 24
21:45 DIES IRAE

[@ComposersPlay]

Sergei Rachmaninoff: "In all good pianoforte playing there is a vital spark that seems to make each interpretation of a masterpiece--a living thing. It exists only for the moment, and cannot be explained. For instance, two pianists of equal technical ability may play the same composition. With one the playing is dull, lifeless and sapless, with the other there is something that is indescribably wonderful. His playing seems fairly to quiver with life. It commands interest and inspires the audience. What is this vital spark that brings life to mere notes? In one way it may be called the intense artistic interest of the player. It is that astonishing thing known as inspiration. When the composition was originally written the composer was unquestionably inspired; when the performer finds the same joy that the composer found at the moment the composition came into existence, then something new and different enters his playing. It seems to be stimulated and invigorated in a manner altogether marvelous. The audience realizes this instantly, and will event sometimes forgive technical imperfections if the performance is inspired. Rubinstein was technically marvelous, and yet he admitted making mistakes. Nevertheless, for every possible mistake he may have made, he gave, in return, ideas and musical tone pictures that would have made up for a million mistakes. When Rubinstein was over-exact his playing lost something of its wonderful charm. I remember that upon one occasion he was playing Balakireff’s ISLAMEY at a concert. Something distracted his attention and he apparently forgot the composition entirely; but he kept on improvising in the style of the piece, and after about four minutes the remainder of the composition came back to him and he played it to the end correctly. This annoyed him greatly and he played the next number upon the program with the greatest exactness, but, strange to say, it lost the wonderful charm of the interpretation of the piece in which his memory had failed him.
Anton Rubinstein was really incomparable, even more so perhaps because he was full of human impulse and his playing very far removed from mechanical perfection. While, of course, the student must play the notes, and all of the notes, in the manner and in the time in which the composer intended that they should be played, his efforts should by no means stop with notes. Every individual note in a composition is important, but there is something quite as important as the notes, and that is the soul. After all, the vital spark is the soul. The soul is the source of that higher expression in music which cannot be represented in dynamic marks. The soul feels the need for the CRESCENDO and DIMINUENDOS intuitively. The mere matter of the duration of a pause upon a note depends upon its significance, and the soul of the artist dictates to him just how long such a pause should be held. If the student resorts to mechanical rules and depends upon them absolutely, his playing will be soulless. Fine playing requires much deep thought away from the keyboard. The student should not feel that when the notes have been played his task is done. It is, in fact, only begun. He must make the piece a part of himself. Every note must awaken in him a kind of musical consciousness of his real artistic mission."

[@fredericfrancoischopin6971]

0:04 Introduction
0:11 Variation 1
0:32 Tema
0:52 Variation 2
1:11 Variation 3
1:36 Variation 4
2:06 Variation 5
2:36 Variation 6
3:27 Variation 7
4:27 Variation 8
5:00 Variation 9
5:32 Variation 10 (DIES IRAE)
6:22 Variation 11
7:36 Variation 12
8:55 Variation 13
9:23 Variation 14
10:10 Variation 15
11:14 Variation 16
12:30 Variation 17
14:14 Variation 18
16:59 Variation 19
17:28 Variation 20
18:05 Variation 21
18:31 Variation 22
20:10 Variation 23
20:59 Variation 24
21:45 DIES IRAE

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