Russian Piano Music (2009)

With a balanced and diverse program executed with technical brilliance and expressive intensity, this disc of Russian piano music played by pianist Benjamin Moser is a delight from start to finish. The program takes works by well-known composers like Rachmaninov and Prokofiev, along with works by less well-known composers like Scriabin and Medtner, then mixes together familiar works like four of Rachmaninov's preludes with less familiar works like his Etudes Tableaux, and the result is a continually surprising and always ... Read More

With a balanced and diverse program executed with technical brilliance and expressive intensity, this disc of Russian piano music played by pianist Benjamin Moser is a delight from start to finish. The program takes works by well-known composers like Rachmaninov and Prokofiev, along with works by less well-known composers like Scriabin and Medtner, then mixes together familiar works like four of Rachmaninov's preludes with less familiar works like his Etudes Tableaux, and the result is a continually surprising and always satisfying collection. More importantly, Moser's performances are uniformly first-class. The young German pianist has a gargantuan technique that can handle anything from the delicate filigree of Rachmaninov's sultry G sharp minor Prelude to the muscular calisthenics of Prokofiev's hurtling Precipitato from his Seventh Sonata. But he also has a soul that shines through in every piece, an absolute necessity in Russian music. Few readings of Scriabin's overheated Fantasy in B minor have... Read Less