Rachmaninov: 24 Preludes, Steven Osborne, piano

Many of Steven Osborne’s recordings have embraced less familiar piano music, but for his latest disc he returns to mainstream repertoire with Rachmaninov’s Preludes. He opens with the instantly familiar Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 3 no. 2. In his hands, it sounds as though it has walked straight off the pages of a Rachmaninov piano concerto.

As the disc progressed, I was struck by the huge variety of atmosphere in Osborne’s performance. Where Rachmaninov calls for the gigantic (as in the C-sharp minor Prelude) then we get it. Yet these preludes demand many different textures and techniques of their pianist, and Osborne meets this challenge with apparent ease. Moments of magical dreaminess occur (for example, Prelude in G major, Op. 32 no. 5, which both shimmers and also allows the melodic line to shine through).

In the sleeve-notes, Osborne muses that the preludes reflect Rachmaninov’s difficult life. With this in mind, Prelude in B minor, Op. 32 no. 10, filled with cross-rhythms, captures much of the pain to which Osborne refers. There are other points where the playing is breath-takingly nimble (just listen to Prelude in F minor, Op. 32 no. 6). Of the Opus 23 set, the Prelude in B-flat major stands out; Steven Osborne’s interpretation of this majestic work is spectacularly grand.

In his recent Gramophone interview, Osborne said that “physically it [Rachmaninov] doesn’t suit me as well as other composers.” He then comes to the conclusion that he can only work within his limitations; yet here it is very difficult to hear what these may be! For many years, Ashkenazy’s CD on Decca has provided the staple recommended recording of these works. However we now have a serious contender in Steven Osborne. Gramophone argues that this recording “has award-winner written all over it” and I, for one, am inclined to agree!

About the set

Rachmaninov’s 24 Preludes weren’t conceived as a single project, the famous C sharp minor Prelude, Op. 3 No. 2, dates from 1892, written shortly after he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory; the ten Preludes of Op. 23 followed eleven years later, in 1903; and the final thirteen, Op. 32, weren’t completed until 1910, at the height of his powers as a composer. Only once all three sets existed did the full picture emerge: like Chopin, Scriabin and Bach before him, Rachmaninov had written a prelude in every one of the 24 major and minor keys, though his own examples tend to be fuller, more completely developed pieces than Chopin’s or Scriabin’s more fleeting miniatures in the same form.