An illuminating juxtaposition of keyboard giants bookending the Romantic age, by a pianist with a growing international reputation. The Latvian pianist Georgijs Osokins made these recordings for Piano Classics between 2016 and 2018, and they attracted an enthusiastic critical response on their first issue. In Gramophone, Jeremy Nicholas welcomed a 'powerful and cleanly articulated reading' of Rachmaninoff's Variations on a Theme of Chopin, while the paired transcriptions 'provide further evidence of Osokins's stylistic identification with Rachmaninoff's idiom.'The Chopin album was made shortly after Osokins placed himself among the medal winners at the 2015 Chopin competition in Warsaw, where he divided opinion with interpretations which many found radical. Yet the coherence of his thinking is powerfully evident from the sequence which charts the 'late' thinking and keyboard writing of Chopin, as it ventures into poetic territories hitherto unexplored even by him, from the Third Piano Sonata through to the visionary Polonaise-Fantaisie. These are works that will perennially challenge and reward the most adventurous minds and musicians in any generation, and with this album Osokins placed himself among their number. In the following decade, Osokins has gone on to win first prize at the 2018 Manhattan International Music Competition in New York, and make an acclaimed debut at the Salzburg Festival, as well as several other recordings. He has also become the youngest-ever recipient of the Latvian Grand Music Award, the highest honour in the Latvian music industry. Such awards are recognition of the artistry which illuminates this album: a piercing musicianship which places itself at the service of the composer.

Tracklist:

Berceuse in D Flat Major Op. 57
Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor Op. 58-Allegro Maestoso
Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor Op. 58-Scherzo, Molto Vivace
Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor Op. 58-Largo
Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor Op. 58-Finale, Presto Non Tanto
Mazurkas Op. 59-No. 1 in a Minor
Mazurkas Op. 59-No. 2 in a Flat Major
Mazurkas Op. 59-No. 3 in F Sharp minor
Barcarolle in F Sharp Major Op. 60
Polonaise-Fantaisie in a Flat Major Op. 61
Souvenir de Paganini in a Major Op. Posth
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Tema. Largo
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Variation 1. Moderato
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Variation 2. Allegro
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Variation 3. L'istesso Tempo
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Variation 4. L'istesso Tempo
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Variation 5. Meno Mosso
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Variation 6. Meno Mosso
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Variation 7. Allegro
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Variation 8. L'istesso Tempo
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Variation 9. L'istesso Tempo
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Variation 10. PiÃ¹ Vivo
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Variation 11. Lento
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Variation 12. Moderato
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Variation 13. Largo
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Variation 14. Moderato
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Variation 15. Allegro Scherzando
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Variation 16. Lento
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Variation 17. Grave
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Variation 19. Allegro Vivace
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Variation 20. Presto
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Variarion 21. Andante
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Variation 22. Maestoso-Meno Mosso-Presto
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22-Largo Theme
In the Silence of the Secret Night, Op. 4 No. 3
How Fair This Spot, Op. 21 No. 7
Morceaux de Salon, for Piano, Op. 10-No. 3. Barcarolle
Work(S)-Fragments Op. Posth
Vocalize, Op. 34 No. 14
Vespers, Op. 37-No. 5 Now Lettest Thou Depart
Dream, Op. 38 No. 5

UPC: 5063758103664
Label: Piano Classics
Release Date: 5.1.26
Format: CD

Georgijs Osokins - Osokins Plays Chopin & Rachmaninoff (CD)