THE MUSIC

Suite No. 1 Op. 5 for two pianos  

Trio Elegiac No. 1 in G minor

Elegy

Suite No. 2 for two pianos, Op. 17

Vocalise

THE ARTISTS

Huberman Piano Trio: Barbara Karaśkiewicz – piano, Dagmara Swystun – violin, Sergei Rysanov – cello

Michał Rot, piano

THE BACKGROUND

This Divine Art recording of chamber works by Sergei Rachmaninov was made in Poland. The insightfully written liner notes by Beata Młynarczyk are accompanied by comments by Rachmaninoff himself.

Sergei Rachmaninov did not write much chamber music. Most of his chamber works were composed between 1890 and 1896, only three after 1900. A record of the youthfully passionate writing of the Russian composer reads: A composer’s music should express his country of birth, his religion, his romances… It should be the sum of his experiences… Music is the sister of poetry and the mother of sorrow…

THE RECORDING

Recording engineer Wojciech Marzec used to great advantage the acoustics of the Łódź Academy of Music, and the Czestochowa Philharmonic, where the recording was made.

THE PERFORMANCE

Barbara Karaśkiewicz and Michał Rot play sublimely in Suite No. 1 for two pianos and the Suite No. 2 for two pianos, Op. 17 with a command of the grand Romantic style seldom heard these days of soulless playing of some of today’s superstar pianists.  

In the same manner, the superbly accomplished members of the Huberman Piano Trio bring to life the Trio Elegiac No. 1 in G minor, and both the Elegy from the 1882 Five Fantasy Pieces, Op. 3, and the familiar 1915 Vocalise. The two miniatures are separated by 33 years, yet imprinted by the composer’s gift for memorable melody, which in the enormously gifted hands of pianist Barbara Karaśkiewicz, violinist Dagmara Swystun, and cellist Sergei Rysanov are heard again in impeccably delivered readings.

Rafael de Acha © 2023