Rachmaninoff (2022)

Pianist Jean-Paul Gasparian has performed music by various composers from Mozart onward, but he seems to be settling into a groove as a Russian music specialist. His first album covered various Russian composers, and in 2022, he returned with this all-Rachmaninov release, opening with the Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 36. Gasparian's performance here is very strong. He plays the composer's 1931 revision, drastically shortened from the 1913 original, and he catches the atypical concentration of this work nicely. ... Read More

Pianist Jean-Paul Gasparian has performed music by various composers from Mozart onward, but he seems to be settling into a groove as a Russian music specialist. His first album covered various Russian composers, and in 2022, he returned with this all-Rachmaninov release, opening with the Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 36. Gasparian's performance here is very strong. He plays the composer's 1931 revision, drastically shortened from the 1913 original, and he catches the atypical concentration of this work nicely. Compared to the Sonata No. 2, some of the short pieces that fill out the program feel positively spacious. Listen to the Lento Prelude, Op. 32, No. 10, where Gasparian strikes a good note of mystery. In the true virtuoso pieces like the fleet Moment Musicaux, Op. 16, No. 4, every note is in place. Little new ground is broken here, but this is a solid Rachmaninov recital that makes one want to hear more from Gasparian. It's enhanced by excellent, idiomatic sound from the Salon de... Read Less