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"Rachmaninoff: Concerto No.2 iii/w/Orch" genre: Piano
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	In 1901, Rachmaninov's career was in ruins. His first symphony had been an abject failure,panned by his fellow Russian critics. Rachmaninov was in such despair that he turnedto a hypnotist, one Dr Nikolai Dahl, who swunghis watch in front of the composer and convincedhim that his next piece would be world-famous. He went away and wrote this, dedicating it to the good doctor. The work opens with eight dramatic chords from the piano, then developsinto a solemn rhapsody. It was an immediatesuccess with audiences, becoming the most popular concerto written this century. Perhaps it was the broad sweep of the melodies,the old-fashioned painful romantic yearning,the second movement's melancholic theme punctured by mourning woodwinds... whatever itwas, the work became even more familiar to English-speaking audiences from its use in the film Brief Encounter (a romance where the lovers never even kissed, perfectly suitingthe unfulfilled yearning quality of the music).Just to show how timeless Rachmaninov's creationi, the slow movement's chords and melody have turned up in pop music by Eric Carmen and MariahCarey, and moved a new generation. Dr Dahl obviously knew his stuff. This was the live performance with WLU Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Simon Streatfield.
	MP3.com CD: Passion for Russian - buy it! CD: Kui Min Piano Recital at Maureen Forrester Recital Hall
"Rachmaninoff: Sonata No.2 i (1931)" genre: Piano
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	Rachmaninoff's Sonata No.2 Op. 36 in B-flat minor was composed in 1913, but in a letter to the Dutch conductor Willem Mengelberg he wrote that the piece had never really satisfied him and that he intended to revise it which he did in 1931. This performance is of the revised version. Many artists actually prefer the original version which has, of course, much greater complexityit, got more notes and many wonderful recordings are made by John Browning, Horowizt, Sultanov, etc. who combined the new and old versions together fantastically in their own ways. In the sonata one seems to hear great bells ringing. Rachmaninoff wrote this piece right after his Choral Symphony "The Bells". They may come from that, but then, all Russian composers have been influenced by the sound of bells from 22 churches in a four-block area in Moscow—all ringing at once on Easter Sunday. This performance was specially dedicated to Kui's god-sister who just passed away last year, the blessing sound of bells to the heaven!
	MP3.com CD: Kui Min Piano Recital at MFRH - buy it! MP3.com CD: Passion for Russian - buy it! CD: Kui Min Piano Recital at Maureen Forrester Recital Hall
"Scriabin: Sonata No.4 Op.30" genre: Piano
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	For his 4th Sonata, Op.30, Scriabin wrote a programme: a poem describing flight to a distant star. It reflects new philosophies he was imbibing:Thinly veiled in transparent cloudA star shines softly, far and lonelyHow beautiful! The azure secretOf its radiance beckons, lulls me...Vehement desire, sensual, insane, sweet...Now! Joyfully I fly upward toward you,Freely I take wingMad dance, godlike play...I drew near in my longing...Drink you in, sea of light, you lightof my own self...He says,"Here the stars are singing!""It must be a flight at the speed of light, straight towards the sun, into the sun!...""To become an optimist in the true sense of the word, one must have been prey to despair and surmounted it."
	MP3.com CD: Kui Min Piano Recital at MFRH - buy it! MP3.com CD: Passion for Russian - buy it! CD: Kui Min Piano Recital at Maureen Forrester Recital Hall

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