Nelson Goerner’s beautifully modulated pianism and centered musicianship first caught my attention by way of his excellent Chopin recital released in EMI’s budget-priced Debut series. It comes as no surprise, then, that Goerner brings these qualities to Rachmaninov’s most demanding concerto in a live performance recorded in February, 2000. His suave, feathery dispatch of even the gnarliest textures mirrors the fleet, Apollonian poise we hear in the composer’s 1930 recording and in those by like-minded contemporaries such as Kocsis, Thibaudet, and Volodos. Vassily Sinaisky provides a taut and sympathetic orchestral framework, featuring lovely woodwind solos emerging from the first-movement cadenza (Goerner favors the more difficult chordal option), although the location engineering lacks the presence and heft of this work’s best recordings, including the fiery live Argerich/Chailly traversal.
Goerner’s lyrical gifts truly soar in the two preludes from Rachmaninov’s Op. 32 group (so do the composer’s, but we know that already!). The Op. 23 No. 2 Prelude doesn’t sizzle à la Richter or Gavrilov, but the ease and deft control Goerner brings to Blumenfeld’s left-hand etude will impress many a picky pianophile.
