Rachmaninov: Études-Tableaux; Three Pieces (Lugansky)

Rachmaninov
Études-Tableaux, Opp 33 & 39; Three Pieces (1917)
Nikolai Lugansky (piano)
Harmonia Mundi HMM902297   73:34 mins

Both sets of Études-Tableaux are consistently enthralling, especially in these performances, but the second sequence, along with the Op. 32 Preludes, includes the most profound music Rachmaninov ever composed for solo piano. When I reviewed all available recordings of Op. 39 for Radio 3’s Building a Library, Nikolai Lugansky had only recorded some of the numbers; the complete set, further enriched by perspectives from Op. 33, establishes a golden mean in Rachmaninov interpretation, somewhere between my top choices back then, the robust and springy Rustem Hayroudinoff and the more mystically inclined Alexander Melnikov.

Many have mistaken Lugansky’s meticulous objectivity for coldness, but the classical balance only makes the biggest climaxes hit all the harder. From the opening march-stalking of Op. 33, he clarifies through careful pedalling – dry to begin with, carefully more sustained when lyricism unfolds, transcendentally beautiful in No. 4, Moderato. Every staccato or accented note throughout has its proper weight, with an elasticity that reaches its apogee in the penultimate Étude-Tableau. The supreme test, though, and a summary of everything we’ve heard, is the terrifying and profound Op. 39 No. 7, Lento lugubre. Even the shortest rests between notes are pregnant with tension; the central build towards terraced bellsong is spellbindingly sustained. This is a great overall interpretation of one (or two, if you prefer) of the monuments of the piano repertoire, where Lugansky, like the composer, knows perfectly how to achieve each and every effect, and doesn’t flinch from a ruthlessly clear recording.

David Nice