Some hits, some misses: Even the tiniest rhetorical adjustments in Rachmaninov’s G minor Prelude diffuse the gathering momentum of its austere march, and Valentina Igoshina’s sturdy fingers fall into that trap. Conversely, she takes a matter-of-fact attitude toward the middle section’s luxuriant lyric sentiments and ignores the “inner” tenor voice brought out by pianists such as Richter, Horowitz, Hofmann, Ashkenazy, and, of course, Rachmaninov himself. The B minor Prelude’s stark undercurrents, however, are perfectly realized. If Igoshina doesn’t profile the Corelli Variations’ orchestral textures and sudden mood contrasts with Ashkenazy’s rhythmic snap, inner drama, and depth of tone, there’s still plenty of color and nuance within her softer grained, more limpid approach to the quieter variations and Intermezzo.
For the most part Igoshina’s Chopin Preludes are intimately scaled and full of lingering details that manage to sound more spontaneous than self-conscious. These include the imaginatively-voiced D major Prelude, a dreamier-than-usual E-flat Prelude, and a deliberate, drawn-out F major. Granted, she fusses too much at the start of the F minor, doling out the rhetoric with the wrong dosage. The taxing B-flat minor also needs a stronger internal build, and I’d also wish for a wider, more assertive use of dynamics. Beneath the E minor Prelude’s surface simplicity, though, lies a carefully crafted left-hand chordal accompaniment on the pianist’s part. All in all, an interesting supplement to my Op. 28 reference versions listed above.
