Decca Legends squeezes all 80 minutes and 34 seconds of Vladimir Ashkenazy’s 1975 Rachmaninov Preludes onto a single disc, in its cleanest and clearest transfer to date. Reduction in tape hiss yields a quieter ambience yet does not compromise the pianist’s rich and colorful sonority one iota. Better still, Ashkenazy is captured at his technical and interpretive apex. Each and every prelude brings forth revelations of balance, voicing, phrase shaping, and architecture, all of which simply aim to clarify what’s already indicated in the scores.
The expressive economy of Ashkenazy’s rubato plays a key role in allowing the music’s orchestral polytextures their full due, whether in the lyrical B-flat minor, F major, G major, and G-sharp minor selections from Op. 32, or the full-throated, massive C major, E minor, G minor, and B-flat major pieces. At the same time, his shimmering, supple double notes in the Op. 23 E-flat minor Prelude scintillate in purely pianistic terms. Collectors who understandably swear by memorable versions of individual preludes from Horowitz, Richter, Cliburn, and the composer himself will find similar stimulation from Ashkenazy’s complete set. Indeed, it’s one of the finest recordings in this pianist’s immense discography. With Decca’s more than generous timings, improved sound, and modest asking price, don’t even think of not owning this treasurable disc.
