First off, this is of course not a picture of Gordon Fergus-Thompson on the booklet front cover, it's of Vladimir Ovchinikov, this is one of those discs where i amalgamated two discs into one case, the Ovchinikov disc had a better booklet, so that's the one i kept, these pieces are great, and some of them transcend the depths of the sublime, showing a truly inner quality of invention and insight by Rachmaninov, it was wonderful to renew my acquaintance with these pieces again, as it's certainly been a while since i've played them, and these pieces make their debut here in my Blog today.
Gordon Fergus-Thompson is English, he's now 60, and he recorded this disc back in the late Eighties i believe, the front cover is of course a photograph of Vladimir Ovchinikov [by Chris Garnham], nicely composed picture, showing Ovchinikov almost inside his piano, with the lettering to the left, very nicely weighted, and the deep blacks are superb.
Well all of these Etudes touched me in some way or another, i notice that they're mainly in minor keys, and the three that hit a deeper spot were Op33/9 & op39/2 & 5, and here's a nice little synopsis of each of these pieces,
Etude Tableaux 9 Op33/9 - In C Sharp Minor, it's deliciously dark, and i love the way Rachmaninov throws in unexpected notes that seemingly clash [0:20-0:37 & 1:08-1:19], but actually really do clang nicely against adjacent notes, Rachmaninov seems to want to go into a Bach Toccata & Fugue [0:55-1:03], and it's good to hear ideas that seem just out of place, but really fit in perfectly, here i find Fergus-Thompson really is recorded wonderfully, those tumultuous notes cascade in a lovely way, and repetitive notes just come back in greater force [1:20-1:52], the main tune if you can call it that [1:52+], it ominous and brooding, nicely rumbling bass, there's a lovely complexity there.
Etude Tableaux 11 Op39/2 - This is probably the most beautiful Etude, reminiscent of the best Preludes from Rachmaninov, it's also the longest at nearly 9 minutes, Rachmaninov takes his time to let the magic weave itself, those opening notes in the right hand [0:00-0:07], they're so perfect, and set the scene nicely for the right hand melody [0:07+], now that's real magic, i love the way Rachmaninov creates a little ripple [0:34], that's delicious, and his use of hesitations to put extra weight on certain notes [0:45-0:47], now there's a real master at work, Fergus-Thompson nicely uses colours and shadings to get things right, Rachmaninov starts the whole thing up again, and takes individual notes down a slightly different path, as if he's tasting what other options would do, there's a lovely use of some nice deeply resonant bass notes [3:00-3:34], and there's a slowly brewing growling storm [3:50+], the thing nicely pulls in all sorts of unexpected directions, at moments it can sound like his Piano Concerto 2, at other moments it can sound quite monotonous / mesmerizing, Rachmaninov keeps bringing us to the opening [5:54+], towards the end he throws in some louder notes higher up in the treble [6:36+], and it's good to hear him explore up into this world, Fergus-Thompson really takes this Etude slow, but he sustains it very well indeed, it's full of atmosphere.
Etude Tableaux 14 Op39/5 - Another troublesome and stormy Etude, starts full of agitation, but there's glimmers of softening in the opening minute, i love the way the piece cools down and becomes sad [1:31+], very inward looking, but in less than a minute regains its agitation, it's a whirlwind of emotions, there's a lovely section where a more majestic version of the opening is hammered away [3:13+], the piece goes quiet [4:14-4:31] as if it's coming to a close, but really it's a coda [4:31+], and the closing pages have a real beauty about them, there might be wisps of agitation trying to muscle their way in, but the piece ends very peacefully, a truly outstanding work.
This was a great revelatory exercise listening to these three Etudes again, to pull all the goodness out of them, and examine them with an ear microscope, this listening experience makes me realise that i really don't know these pieces as well as they should be given credit, also i find that certain Rachmaninov pieces demand intensive listening to squeeze the hidden beauty / beast within them, a truly sublime listening experience.
Etude Tableaux 9 Op33/9 - In C Sharp Minor, it's deliciously dark, and i love the way Rachmaninov throws in unexpected notes that seemingly clash [0:20-0:37 & 1:08-1:19], but actually really do clang nicely against adjacent notes, Rachmaninov seems to want to go into a Bach Toccata & Fugue [0:55-1:03], and it's good to hear ideas that seem just out of place, but really fit in perfectly, here i find Fergus-Thompson really is recorded wonderfully, those tumultuous notes cascade in a lovely way, and repetitive notes just come back in greater force [1:20-1:52], the main tune if you can call it that [1:52+], it ominous and brooding, nicely rumbling bass, there's a lovely complexity there.
Etude Tableaux 11 Op39/2 - This is probably the most beautiful Etude, reminiscent of the best Preludes from Rachmaninov, it's also the longest at nearly 9 minutes, Rachmaninov takes his time to let the magic weave itself, those opening notes in the right hand [0:00-0:07], they're so perfect, and set the scene nicely for the right hand melody [0:07+], now that's real magic, i love the way Rachmaninov creates a little ripple [0:34], that's delicious, and his use of hesitations to put extra weight on certain notes [0:45-0:47], now there's a real master at work, Fergus-Thompson nicely uses colours and shadings to get things right, Rachmaninov starts the whole thing up again, and takes individual notes down a slightly different path, as if he's tasting what other options would do, there's a lovely use of some nice deeply resonant bass notes [3:00-3:34], and there's a slowly brewing growling storm [3:50+], the thing nicely pulls in all sorts of unexpected directions, at moments it can sound like his Piano Concerto 2, at other moments it can sound quite monotonous / mesmerizing, Rachmaninov keeps bringing us to the opening [5:54+], towards the end he throws in some louder notes higher up in the treble [6:36+], and it's good to hear him explore up into this world, Fergus-Thompson really takes this Etude slow, but he sustains it very well indeed, it's full of atmosphere.
Etude Tableaux 14 Op39/5 - Another troublesome and stormy Etude, starts full of agitation, but there's glimmers of softening in the opening minute, i love the way the piece cools down and becomes sad [1:31+], very inward looking, but in less than a minute regains its agitation, it's a whirlwind of emotions, there's a lovely section where a more majestic version of the opening is hammered away [3:13+], the piece goes quiet [4:14-4:31] as if it's coming to a close, but really it's a coda [4:31+], and the closing pages have a real beauty about them, there might be wisps of agitation trying to muscle their way in, but the piece ends very peacefully, a truly outstanding work.
