Suites Pour Pianos [Suites for Piano]

Rachmaninov is one of the rare composers of the years around 1900 (like Debussy and a few others) to make full use of the piano as an instrument in its own right, with its special sonic focus and its specific qualities - differentiation of tone-colours, superimpositions of harmonies and harmonics, and so on.

His piano works are conditioned by these almost freakish hands, and reflect his cultivation of sonority and his own special abilities (the shape of certain sections of passagework, the dense chords of a tenth). But this style is the fruit of a striving after colours and sonorities in which so-called 'technical virtuosity' is in no way an end in itself, merely a means to an end. His playing was notable for its exceptional clarity, always light and extremely precise. The popularity of a few famous tunes has undoubtedly obscured his true identity as a highly refined, noble, austere personality. He was not a product of fashion or of his time, but a figure of exceptionally rich personal qualities that will become apparent to all who make the effort to read and listen to his music.

Following acclaimed recordings with Anima Eterna in 2006 - Mozart concertos (Gramophone CD of the Month) and Ravel (BBC Music Magazine Award nominated) - Jos van Immerseel and Claire Chevalier return with this superb Rachmaninov recital.

"they bring a delicious piquancy to these attractive scores"
Jeremy Nicholas - Gramophone