A filigree "Rach 3"
Together with the Basel Symphony Orchestra, Irina Georgieva will perform Rachmaninov's Paganini Variations as well as the 3rd Piano Concerto.
It's Rachmaninov time, as his 150th birthday is being celebrated everywhere. The Russian composer spent several years of his exile on Lake Lucerne in the Villa Senar, which is currently being renovated and will then be opened to the public. All the more reason for the Basel Symphony Orchestra to present two of his important works on CD.
This is also made possible by the successful Swiss label Prospero, run by Martin Korn. The following were recorded Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini op. 43 and the Piano Concerto No. 3 op. 30 at the Stadtcasino Basel. A Swiss production that has it all, also thanks to the excellent pianist Irina Georgieva. The Romanian has had close ties with Basel for years, having studied here with Rudolf Buchbinder. Her piano playing is phenomenal, delicate, always wonderfully audible and never "thick", not even in Rachmaninov's chordal force. She already shows this calling card in the Paganini Variations, which she performs in a chamber music style with a gentle touch and wonderful phrasing. The Basel Symphony Orchestra under Sascha Goetzel provides attentive and restrained accompaniment. It begins with the orchestra's introduction of the theme with short, soft accents, an ideal preparation for the pianist's interpretation. This puts the listener in the mood for the 3rd Piano Concerto, the second work on the CD program, right from the start.
In this piano concerto, Rachmaninov is more diverse in his instrumentation, more varied and less concerned with pure effect than in the second. And it is precisely here that one is amazed at what the Basel Symphony Orchestra, this time under the direction of Pablo Gonzáles, has to offer in terms of audibility, subtlety of sound and finesse. A red carpet for Irina Georgieva, who masters the extraordinarily difficult piano part as if it were the easiest thing in the world. Only in the spectacular finale would one wish for a little more courage to make a grand, sweeping gesture.
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Irina Georgieva, Basel Symphony Orchestra, Sascha Goetzel/Pablo Gonzáles. Prospero Records Prosp0025
