Rachmaninoff, Reimagined for the Future

The programme was largely devoted to Rachmaninoff’s songs, with the world premiere of three songs by Estonian composer Jüri Reinvere woven into it. Reinvere had written them in the spring while staying as a guest at Villa Senar. With their calm, reflective character and the spacious sonorities of the piano writing, in which gentle light and earthy darkness form the two poles of the sound world, they capture something of the unique atmosphere of the place without ever lapsing into stylistic imitation. Reinvere’s own texts, written in German, English and Russian—the languages that shaped Rachmaninoff’s world—use poetic imagery to explore the fragility of the world and the vulnerability of the individual: ideas that were part of everyday life for Rachmaninoff as an émigré and have once again become strikingly relevant today. In Reinvere’s music, however, Rachmaninoff’s profound melancholy is illuminated by glimmers of hope. Rachmaninoff’s songs offered a compelling insight into his vocal output, which forms a substantial part of his oeuvre. His musical thought and emotional world are perhaps expressed here with particular clarity, revealing him as a melodist of inexhaustible invention. The songs were performed by Russian baritone Mikhail Timoshenko and Bulgarian pianist Elitsa Desseva. The young Vienna-based duo impressed with their phenomenal interpretative power and exceptional stylistic assurance. They are already well on their way to establishing themselves among the foremost interpreters of Lied.