01. - 03. Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor, op.18 [36'03]
04. - 06. Piano Concerto No.1 in F-sharp minor, op.1 [28'24]
07. - 09. Piano Sonata No.2 in B-flat minor, op.36 (original version)* [27'15]
10. - 12. Piano Concerto No.3 in D minor, op.30 [44'38]
13. - 15. Piano Concerto No.4 in G minor, op.40 [27'31]
16. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, op.42* [19'40]
17. Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, op.43 [23'44]
John Lill, BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Tadaaki Otaka
Nimbus NI 1720 (recorded 1993 - 1996; this CD/download compilation 2011)
(digital download; flacs, booklet, cover and inlay scans)
Recording venue: Brangwyn Hall, Swansea & Wyastone Leas, Monmouth*
Recording engineers & Producers: not stated
Given the numerous ways that Rachmaninov's surname can be transliterated from the cyrillic, Nimbus' choice of Rakhmaninov seems the most eccentric. Nimbus recorded the concertos and rhapsody in ambisonic surround-sound and some may be troubled by the reverberation of the deep sound-stage, even in this two-channel issue, but I didn't find it intrusive.
Others may find these performances just too sober. John Lill (co-winner of the 1970 International Tchaikovsky Competition with Vladimir Krainev) provides a big-boned interpretation of all the works although he can be a bit literal and 'safe' at times. He is certainly no real match for Earl Wild (still my favourite set), Vladimir Ashkenazy (in either of his sets) or Stephen Hough. However, this is preferable in my view to the so many flashy and neurotic performances by big-name virtuosi.
Lill is ably abetted in the concerted works by Tadaaki Otaka and the orchestra. A little earlier, they made an excellent, if little mentioned, set of recordings of the Rachmaninov symphonies, the orchestra then being known as the BBC Welsh Symphony. Only the second concerto is a bit too drawn out for my taste. In the third concerto, Lill plays the big cadenza.
The performance of the second sonata, curiously sandwiched between the fourth concerto and the Paganini rhapsody, is majestic and quite fine. Although the booklet notes for the second sonata infer that Lill plays the 1931 revised version, he actually plays the larger original.
PS. At around the time of the last of these recordings, John Lill was rumoured to have made recordings of Edmund Rubbra's Piano Concerto and Sinfonia concertante with Tod Handley for Conifer Classics, not long before they ceased trading. I have never seen any evidence of them having been issued but if anybody knows anything different, please let me know. It would be great to have these issued along with Tasmin Little's recording of the Violin Concerto, also with Handley for Conifer. That recording was actually made and briefly appeared on CD, but nothing since.
Download from MEGA.