RACHMANINOFF: FIVE PRELUDES; FOUR MOMENTS MUSICAUX; TWO...

RACHMANINOFF: FIVE PRELUDES; FOUR MOMENTS MUSICAUX; TWO ETUDES-TABLEAUX: ELEGIE. Andrei Gavrilov, piano. Angel DS-38158 (digital). SCRIABIN: 24 PRELUDES; SONATA NO. 4; ETUDE IN C-SHARP MINOR. Andrei Gavrilov, piano. Angel DS-38161 (digital). The recent Soviet emigre here reaffirms the impression made in earlier concert appearances, that he is a pianist of both keen intellect and almost diabolic virtuosity. The outstanding Rachmaninoff disc burns with phenomenal passagework, diamantine brilliance in voicing and fingering and a Romantic ethos that encompasses melancholy and musicianship, definitely a 10 on the S. Richter scale. Gavrilov doesn’t sound quite so individual in Scriabin’s chromatically perfumed miniatures, although the steel and silk of his technique brings its undeniable rewards. The recordings, made in Moscow and Prague, are satisfactory, if unsubtle.