{"id":50212,"date":"2018-01-04T09:31:17","date_gmt":"2018-01-04T14:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=50212"},"modified":"2018-01-04T09:31:17","modified_gmt":"2018-01-04T14:31:17","slug":"record-keeping-rachmaninovs-symphony-no-1-is-making-a-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2018\/01\/04\/record-keeping-rachmaninovs-symphony-no-1-is-making-a-comeback\/","title":{"rendered":"RECORD KEEPING | Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 1 Is Making A Comeback For 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Rachmaninov:
Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 1. Philharmonia Orchestra\/Vladimir Ashkenazy. Signum Classics SUGCD484. Total Time: 43:23.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My first encounter with Rachmaninov\u2019s Symphony No. 1 dates back to the 1980s and a performance at Roy Thomson Hall by the USSR State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Yevgeny Svetlanov. I was blown away by the power of the piece in that totally committed and authoritative performance. At the time, I knew Rachmaninov\u2019s Second and Third Symphonies and didn\u2019t much care for them \u2014 too romantic in a Hollywood-kitschy kind of way \u2014 but in Rachmaninov\u2019s youthful First Symphony, I heard echoes of Borodin and foreshadowings of Scriabin and Shostakovich. This was exciting stuff, and I was thrilled to hear it for the first time. Some 30 years later and much better-informed about Rachmaninov\u2019s genius, I still respond with great anticipation to new recordings of the First Symphony; for example, this one by one of the Rachmaninov\u2019s leading interpreters, pianist-conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy.<\/p>\n

Ashkenazy has made no fewer than three recordings of Rachmaninov\u2019s Symphony No. 1, the first in 1983 with the Concertgebouw Orchestra \u2014 now the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. The second was recorded in 2007 with the Sydney Symphony when he was its music director. The third, this new version, is with the Philharmonia Orchestra.<\/p>\n