Richter’s Protégé Melnikov Hits Full Score
Alexander Melnikov’s extraordinary 2006 Scriabin recording for Harmonia Mundi tickled our curiosity about what was to come.
And our wish came true. Alternating in the roles of soloist and accompanist (with soprano Elena Brilova) , his latest Rachmaninoff recording adds up to one hundred percent presence.
Melnikov delivers some of the most intelligently musical and technically impressive Rachmaninoff interpretations available. Based on his direct sensitivity and deep insight, Melnikov has accomplished a recording with unique sound and colours.
The “Etudes-Tableaux”, Op. 39 and the “Six Songs”, Op. 38 (1916-17) can be described as the composer´s pre-revolutionary creative peak followed by a very long silence. In 1931, it was a desillusioned man in a new era recalled the past and produced the “Variations on a Theme by Corelli” (twenty variations on Arcangelo Corelli’s Sonata for violin, violone, and harpsichord which, itself, is a set of variations on the European musical theme, La Folia).
Alexander Melnikov had close artistic ties with the late Sviatoslav Richter, who regularly invited him to participate in his festivals in Moscow (December Nights) and his chamber music festival in La Grange de Meslay (Tours, France). In recital, Melnikov appears regularly at the world’s leading concert halls and festivals, and has performed with numerous renowned orchestras and conductors. He was featured as a BBC New Generation Artist from 2000 to 2002.
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