Khatia Buniatishvili, Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff, The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Paavo Järvi – Piano Concertos Nos 2&3 (2xLP)

For the first time, ECHO Klassik winner Khatia Buniatishvili sets her sights on Sergei Rachmaninoff's two best-known piano concertos for her second live album. "The Second," the 1901 evergreen, has been recorded many times and has made its mark on Hollywood and pop culture. The longer and much more difficult "Third" is one of the heavyweights of the piano repertoire. Rachmaninoff as a pioneering pianist, composed it in 1909 for his own hands and his first tour of the United States. Josef Hofman, for whom it was originally intended, never attempted to play this work, reportedly lacking the strength or hand-width for the broad chords of the absurdly difficult solo part

    Khatia Buniatishvili, dubbed a "fearless virtuoso" in last year's BBC Music Magazine, has now risen to the challenge and recorded the piece with the Czech Philharmonic under the baton of Paavo Järvi.

Reviews

"With her music she tells artful stories, imaginatively" (Hr kultur)

"Lyrical-dreamy, songlike in the slow parts, whimsical-capricious where one otherwise often found oneself hemmed in between thick blocks of chords - the Georgian's resiliently elastic, softly sweeping touch makes it possible." (Fono Forum, May 2017)