Jobie Reviews Music 117: Rachmaniov: Works for Two Pianos and Four-Hands Piano (album)

Title continued: By Sergei Rachmaninoff, Brigette Engerer, and Oleg Maisenburg. Requested by F63.

Rachmaniov: Works For Two Pianos and Four-Hands Piano is a 2003 classical album by Sergei Rachmaninoff, Brigette Engerer, and Oleg Maisenburg. It is 22 tracks long, spanning a lengthy 2 hours and 11 minutes of music. It is quite a nice album, with piano melodies which encompass a variety of different feels and sounds.

It’s also worth pointing out that this album is the first classical album that I’ve reviewed on Jobie Reviews Music. I’d say it’s a great one to start with, as all the tracks here are of high quality. The instrumentation varies a lot from track to track, with the pacing and sound changing within each track as well. Some tracks, for example, are a lot more upbeat than others, such is the case with the track “Suite No. 2, Op. 17: I. Introduction”. Other tracks, like “Suite No. 1, Op. 5 - ‘Fantaisie - Tableaux: III. Les larmes’”, having a more solemn tone to them - however, in the case of that track, the track still carries an upbeat tone to it.

The album also has tracks which feel more “fun”, so to speak. This is very apparent with the very first track, “Rhapsody on a russian theme”, which has a whimsical tone to its composition and sound. This variation of sound that's found throughout the entirety of the album makes for a great listening experience, since each track is highly varied. This makes it so that no one track sounds the same as another, which makes each song more memorable in general.

Occasionally, the album has tracks which cross over to the 10 minute threshold. These tracks, though very lengthy, never get dull or hard to listen to. These tracks, like all the others in the album, are of course well composed and have a great sound to them.

Speaking of, this album has no low points at all. There aren’t any tracks that you could pick out that are of lower quality than the others, which is a testament to the album’s high quality.

I should also note that none of the material in this album is new - Rachmaninoff died in 1943, well before this album was released. Still, it’s a great compilation of Rachmaninoff’s work, each track being, as mentioned several times, high in quality.

It’s also mentioning that the track “Italian Polka” is in stark contrast to everything else contained on the album. This is because its sound is very circus-esque, unlike the other 21 tracks on the album. This is a welcome variation, as it adds more variety to an already highly varied album.

My favorite tracks from this album are “Suite No. 2, Op. 17: II. Vaise”, “Suite No. 2, Op. 17: IV. Tarentelle”, “Romance in G”, and “Suite No. 1, Op. 5 - ‘Fantaisie-Tableaux”: III. Les larmes”.

Overall, Rachmaniov: Works For Two Pianos and Four-Hands Piano is a great collection of Rachmaninoff’s works. Each track offers up a wide variety of listening experiences to the listener, with some tracks being whimsical in nature, and others being solemn and uplifting. This is a highly enjoyable listen from track 1 all the way to track 22, with no low points in its 2 hour and 11 minute runtime. It's safe to say that this album is great all around, with nothing of note to criticize.

Overall rating:

8.5/10

LINK TO ALBUM:

https://open.spotify.com/album/40wWtlwJVfz6IJmRyrqypE