Inon Barnatan: Rachmaninoff Reflections
Pentatone

While the primary selling-point of pianist Inon Barnatan's Rachmaninoff Reflections is undoubtedly his own arrangement of the Russian composer's Symphonic Dances, the release merits attention for other reasons too. In addition to a distinguished treatment of Moments musicaux, Barnatan caps the release with two settings, the Prelude in G-Sharp Minor and Vocalise, that, while considerably shorter than the others, are perhaps the seventy-three-minute recording's loveliest. Having given his artistry to Beethoven on two of three earlier Pentatone releases, Barnatan now reminds us of why Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) is as deserving of attention.

The Tel Aviv-born Barnatan's played with an abundance of orchestras and chamber ensembles, but he clearly excels in this solo context. Apparent immediately is his sensitivity of touch and elegance of phrasing. As with other pianists of his calibre, it's wonderful to hear him play alone where every nuance and inflection is audible. Recorded in May 2023 at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Rachmaninoff Reflections allows the pianist's artistry to be fully savoured.

The path leading to Barnatan's arrangement of Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 began when he heard a 1940 recording of the composer playing the work for conductor Eugene Ormandy prior to the Philadelphia Orchestra's premiere performance of the orchestral version (it's unknown whether Rachmaninoff knew whether he was being recorded). While Barnatan had participated in performances of the two-piano version (created by the composer before the orchestral treatment), hearing it in a solo piano version incited him to create his own arrangement of the composer's last major work.

There's no shortage of memorable moments during the thirty-five-minute journey. After opening exuberantly with rousing dance melodies, the music takes a contemplative turn, and Barnatan's execution is particularly compelling during these hushed passages. Jaunty waltz episodes add macabre irreverence to a middle movement that sounds almost Gershwin-esque (or Rota-esque, even) in places, and at almost fourteen minutes the expansive third movement is an adventure unto itself. According to Barnatan, traces of other Rachmaninoff pieces surface in the three parts, including the main theme from his first symphony. When it emerges near the end of the first movement, a noticeable shift from minor to major sets the stage for a prototypically lovely Rachmaninoff theme to be voiced gently.

Apparently, the composer wrote Moments musicaux, Op. 16 quickly when he was low on money, but as Barnatan correctly notes, the work is no less an accomplishment for having been created under personal strain. Using Schubert's same-titled collection for inspiration, the twenty-three-year-old Rachmaninoff created six of his own that extend from tender laments (the first and third) and poetic lyricism (the fifth) to oceanic splashes of colour (the second, fourth, and sixth).

December 2023