New CD: Pianist Marianna Prjevalskaya Plays Rachmaninoff: Variations on Themes by Chopin and Corelli

Release date: June 10, 2016 on Fanfare Cincinnati

This spring, on the heels of her gold medal at the Cincinnati World Piano Competition, Marianna Prjevalskaya releases an all Rachmaninoff CD. The recording features two works for solo piano: Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22, and Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42. Marianna Prjevalskaya plays Rachmaninoff (Fanfare Cincinnati FC-008) is released on June 10, 2016.

Praised by critics as "a grand pianist" (Il Cittadino, Italy) and a "master of piano" (Music Magazine 'Auditorium', Korea), Marianna Prjevalskaya holds a special place in her heart for these two seldom-heard Rachmaninoff pieces. These pieces, says Prjevalskaya, "exemplifies Rachmaninoff's finest writing in which his compositional skills give birth to a world of endless pianistic possibilities."

Prjevalskaya says that both sets of variations fascinate her because of their profound emotional depth. "The two compositions were written 30 years apart, and they represent a stylistic development in Rachmaninoff's compositions," she continues. "One can hear the rich explosion of color and the inventive diversity of moods and styles in each miniature movement of both sets. These variations on themes of Chopin and Corelli are the epitome of Rachmaninoff's early and late approaches to this form."

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Rachmaninoff himself performed the premiere of Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22 in 1903. The work was criticized for its excessive length, and received significantly less acclaim than his Preludes, Op. 23 written in the same year. Composed early in his career, the work reflects the earlier romantic era, but Rachmaninoff expands the form to its outermost limits. "Although rarely played," says Prjevalskaya in the liner notes of the recording, "the Chopin Variations is Rachmaninoff's first large-scale work for solo piano and gives us a glimpse into the young mind of this virtuoso pianist and composer."

Listen to an excerpt of Marianna performing Variations on a Theme of Chopin.

It was thirty years before Rachmaninoff returned to the "theme and variations" form. Written in the summer of 1931, Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42 was Rachmaninoff's last solo piano composition. Written a few years earlier than his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and Symphonic Dances, the Corelli variations show a structural efficiency and stylistic growth in the harmonic language.

Watch Marianna perform Variations on a Theme of Corelli.

Since her solo debut with orchestra at age nine, Ms. Prjevalskaya has appeared with major orchestras such as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, National Lithuanian Symphony Orchestra, Korean Symphony Orchestra, and Granada Symphony Orchestra, and has collaborated with renowned conductors such as Ion Marin, Robert Treviño, Carlos Prieto, and David Danzmayr. As a recitalist, Marianna has performed in the US, Europe and Japan at prestigious venues such as the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Accademia Santa Cecilia in Rome, Teatro Goldoni of Florence, Minato Mirai Hall in Yokohama, Orpheum Theatre in New Orleans, and at Carnegie's Weill Hall and Steinway Hall in New York.