PIANO CONCERTOS 2 & 3

Yevgeny Sudbin (piano) & BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo

Over een periode van 10 jaar heeft Sudbin de pianoconcerten van Rachmaninoff opgenomen. De reis begon in 2008 in de VS met het 4e Concerto, begeleid door het North Carolina Symphony Orchestra onder Grant Llewellyn (een "geweldige opname" volgens Classic FM Magazine). Vervolgens gingen ze naar Azië met het Singapore Symphony Orchestra onder Lan Shui voor de opname van de "Paganini Variaties" en het 1e Concerto ("transcendente virtuositeit en caleidoscopische pianokleuren", volgens BBC Music Magazine). De grote finale is nu dit album met het 2e en 3e Pianoconcert, Rachmaninoffs meest geliefde concerti, en dit is tegelijk een thuiskomst, want Sudbin woont sinds 1997 in Londen. Sudbin en Oramo bieden heldere, mooi klinkende uitvoeringen, die zelfs in zeer virtuoze passages nog helder zijn, die zich niet zo toeleggen op emotionele hoogdruk en Rachmaninoff bijna een klassieker doen lijken.

Rachmaninov:
 Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
 Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30

"The evergreen Second Concerto is gorgeously rich, with just the right amount of gooeyness. Sudbin captures the sheer weight of emotion in this work…Throughout, Sudbin creates a beautifully rounded tone – each show-stopping tune is as good as the last. Sudbin shapes the elongated melodic lines of the Third Concerto with craftsmanship, retaining precision as themes become interwoven."
BBC Music Magazine - June 2018 ****

"In the Concerto No 2, Sudbin takes a relatively quick line through the score, almost as fast as Hough (Hyperion) in the opening Moderato and over a minute swifter in that movement than Tharaud’s mightily impressive Erato account. His Adagio sostenuto is significantly fleeter than these two exemplary rivals but still makes the movement sing as it should. In the finale, and throughout No 3, Sudbin is less markedly different in matters of tempo but, more importantly, communicates his vision of the works with clarity and persuasiveness. These are accounts that compare well with as interpretations with any forebears (Hough and Tharaud included) and certainly superior to recent rivals from Buniatishvili and (No 2 only) Giltburg."
International Piano - July 2018