Rachmaninov’s songs for voice and piano count among his most heartfelt and beautiful compositions. Since his better-known piano preludes ooze melody from their every pore, why not adapt the songs for solo piano and you’ll have what amounts to an additional set of Rachmaninov preludes? That’s precisely what Earl Wild did with 13 of these gems. He doesn’t merely weld the vocal lines onto the original piano accompaniments; instead, he fleshes out the textures in a style very much in keeping with the lush polyphony and galvanic rhythm typical of Rachmaninov’s solo keyboard writing. And nobody plays Earl Wild transcriptions better than Earl Wild. From the bristling cascades in “The Little Island” to the wistful long lines and pent-up agitation of the familiar “Vocalise”, Wild’s unerring sense of style and utterly natural, singing technique hold your attention.
It’s a joy to have these 1982 recordings, once available on the Dell ‘Arte label, back in circulation along with 1991 remakes of “In the Silent Night” and “Vocalise”, plus “Do Not Grieve”, which Wild transcribed shortly after the Dell ‘Arte sessions. In addition, live 1983 recordings from Montreal of “In the Silent Night”, “Floods of Spring”, and “Where Beauty Swells” prove slightly more animated and impulsive than their studio antecedents. Ivory Classics provides English text translations for the original songs in order to put the transcriptions in context: a thoughtful move. The 1982/83 sonics are somewhat dry and hiss-ridden yet remain perfectly listenable. Definitely one of Earl’s Pearls. [5/6/2004]
