On 3 December 2012 another piece of Valentina Lisitsa’s long awaited Rachmaninoff recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra was released by Decca: Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.3. Earlier on, in October 2012, Decca released Piano Concerto No.2. In January/February 2013 Decca will release Lisitsa’s recordings of Piano Concerti No.1 and No.4 and also the Paganini Variations. The four concerti and the variations are initially released separately and online in mp3-quality. Around March 2013 the complete set will be boxed and released on CD.
It took a while, but it looks like Valentina Lisitsa’s long awaited release of her Rachmaninoff Project is on its way now. In 2009-2010 she recorded the four piano concerti and the Paganini Variations with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Michael Francis. I reported extensively on this fabulous undertaking on my website and on YouTube. On Amazon, Valentina’s recording of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.2 is now announced – right here – for release on October 22nd.
And how about the release of the other recordings? On October 10th, Valentina herself stated on her Facebook wall that after the MP3-release of Piano Concerto No.2 on October 22nd, the release of the other recordings (also as MP3) will follow later on this year. She added that around February-March 2013, the complete set will be released on CD.
I was present at the recording sessions in London’s Abbey Road Studios and it was a unique and unforgettable musical experience. Yes, such was the power of Valentina’s performing!
Rachmaninoff Project, December 2009, Valentina and me in the Abbey Road Studios
For those interested in how the ‘Rachy project’ came about, I’d like to refer to my documentary, embedded here below.
