Rachmaniana & Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances [CD]

Alongside Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances, this release features the world premiere recording of Mikhail Pletnev's Rachmaniana, which will be first performed in January 2026 at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. The eight short pieces of the Rachmaniana Suite succinctly outline some of the composer's character traits: passion, tenderness, a joie de vivre both exuberant and rooted in pain, and an all-encompassing melancholy. This music can be called "contemporary" insofar as it was composed in our time. However, it is not entirely untouched by what has been composed since Rachmaninoff's time, and these experiences are incorporated into it in a very subtle way - it does not follow the path of describing the ugliness of this world; rather, the music professes an imagination of beauty that we might find old-fashioned, yet desperately need again today.