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Dmitry Rachmanov, piano
August 16, 2016
Dmitry Rachmanov, piano

 

Franz Schubert: Impromptu No. 1 in F Minor, D 935 (Op. 142)

Frédéric Chopin: Impromptu No. 1 in A-Flat Major, Op. 29

Felix Blumenfeld: Moment Lyrique in E-Flat Minor, Op. 27 No. 1

Anatoly Lyadov: Barcarolle, Op. 44

Alexander Scriabin: Two Etudes, Opus 8
No. 1 in C-Sharp Major
No. 8 in D-Flat Major
Flammes sombres, Op. 73 No. 2

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Five Preludes
In C Major, Op. 32 No. 1
In B Minor, Op. 32 No. 10
In B Major, Op. 32 No. 11
In G-Sharp Minor, Op. 32 No. 12
In B-Flat Major, Op. 23 No. 2

 

Pianist Dmitry Rachmanov has garnered much acclaim for his passionate performances, refined musicianship and brilliant pianism. Critics of major publications have called his playing “dazzling, thrilling, soulful, and deeply moving.” Hailed as an “indisputable musician” by the Brussels’ Le Soir and “suave and gifted pianist” by the New York Times, Rachmanov has been heard at venues such as New York’s Carnegie Hall and the 92nd Street Y, Washington DC’s Kennedy Center, London’s Barbican and South Bank Centres, and the Beijing, Xinghai and Shenzhen Concert Halls in China. The pianist’s festival appearances include FAOT in Sonora, Mexico, Sulzbach-Rosenberg in Germany, Soesterberg in Holland, Upbeat Hvar in Croatia, Bard Music Festival, and International Keyboard Institute & Festival in New York, and his tours have brought him to Mexico, Europe, Russia, Turkey and the Far East.

Rachmanov has collaborated as a soloist with the Ukraine National Symphony, National Orchestra of Porto, Portugal, London Soloists Chamber Orchestra, Manhattan Philharmonia, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, among others. He has performed in over thirty-five states in the US, including recent recital tours of Northern California, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Utah and the Northwestern University’s bicentennial Liszt celebration as well as regular appearances at the American Liszt Society festivals, including those held at the universities of Oregon (2012) and Georgia (2011).

The pianist’s most recent albums include Latin Romance by the Clavierinet Duo (Julia Heinen, clarinet, Dmitry Rachmanov, piano), digitally released by Tresona Multimedia in 2013, and New York Moments, by Tapestry Ensemble (with Richard Kravchak, oboe & English horn, Julia Heinen, clarinet & Ovidiu Marinescu, cello), released by the Navona Records (Parma) in 2012, which features chamber works by the composers of Southern California. Rachmanov’s 2011 Naxos release “Beethoven and his Teachers,” recorded on period pianos in collaboration with the pianist Cullan Bryant, was hailed as “an outstanding release’ by the American Record Guide. The same publication, in its review of Rachmanov’s all-Beethoven Omniclassic album (1998), noted his “spirited, exceptionally lyrical” playing, where “everything sings, and sings gloriously.” International Piano magazine, in a review of his all-Tchaikovsky disc (Vista Vera, 2006), finds the pianist’s “delivery…highly atmospheric” and “responsive to the charm and mood change,” the composer’s “pearls require,” with “the variegated moods of smaller pieces.” The magazine’s review of Rachmanov’s Twenty-Four Preludes by Rachmaninoff (Master Musicians, 2005), pointed to his “total command” and “commitment to music,” remarking that he “makes you fall in love with this music all over again.” His other releases include “Scriabin Odyssey” (Master Musicians) and Prokofiev’s War Sonatas (Vista Vera) with the upcoming albums by Medtner and Scriabin.

Rachmanov’s interest in historical performance practice has brought him to the Massachusetts’ Frederick Historic Piano Collection, where he has made regular appearances performing recital series dedicated to the music of Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Scriabin and Rachmaninoff on period instruments. His upcoming appearance on the series, scheduled for June, 2014, is going to feature the music of Schubert, Schumann & Liszt.

An avid proponent of the Russian repertoire, Rachmanov performed the Shostakovich First Piano Concerto at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Scriabin Concerto with the Porto National Orchestra in Portugal, the Tchaikovsky Third Piano Concerto with the Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra in Kiev, and the Stravinsky Concerto for Piano and Winds at Chicago’s Rudolph Ganz Hall. His 1989 US premiere of Boris Pasternak’s Piano Sonata was broadcast nationwide by the National Public Radio, and his 1998 recital at Merkin Concert Hall entitled “The Art of the 19th Century Russian Character Piece” was noted by the New York Times for the “considerable color and focus” he brought to the individual works. His January 2005 San Francisco recital was praised for its “depth of concept, keen intelligence” by the San Francisco Classical Voice, with the Rachmaninoff Corelli Variations described as “sensational.” A founding member of the Scriabin Society of America, Rachmanov gave an all-Scriabin four-recital series in 1992 in commemoration of the composer’s 100th anniversary, which included all ten of the piano sonatas. He is to revisit the Scriabin recital programs in the 2013-15 seasons, ushering in the centenrary of the composer’s death with recitals in various venues the US, including the Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall in April, 2014, as well as recitals in Moscow, Budapest, Paris, Shanghai and Beijing.

Dr. Dmitry Rachmanov is a Professor of Piano at California State University, Northridge, where he serves as Chair of Keyboard Studies. A sought-after educator, master class clinician, adjudicator and lecturer, Dr. Rachmanov has served on the faculties of Manhattan School of Music and Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, and he has appeared as a guest artist at schools such as Royal Northern College of Music (UK), Shanghai Conservatory and Beijing Central Music School in China, UCLA, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, University of Washington, University of Alaska, Anchorage, Florida State University, Arizona State University and Indiana University at Bloomington, among others. Dr. Rachmanov is a frequent adjudicator, having served on the juries of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Brahms International Competition in Poertschach, Austria, Claviarium in Moscow, Russia, among many other regional, national and international contests.

As a researcher, Dr. Rachmanov has authored reviews and articles on historical subjects related to piano performance in publications such as Keyboard Classics, the Journal of the Scriabin Society of America and the London-based International Piano magazine, which has published Rachamnov’s surveys of recorded legacies of the Chopin F Minor Ballade, Op. 52, Rachmaninoff’s Corelli Variations, Op. 42 and the Paganini Rhapsody, Op. 43 as well as a features on the art of the Russian pianist Grigory Ginzburg and the noted Juilliard pedagogue Joseph Bloch. Dr. Rachmanov is an active lecturer, having presented his research on various topics at public venues, such as the Beijing National Theater to conservatories and universities, as well as music teachers associations, such as MTNA & MTAC, among others.

Rachmanov’s awards include high honors at the Frinna Awerbuch, Senigallia, E. Pozolli and Maryland Piano Competitions, a Fellowship from the American Pianists Association and the George Schick Award for Outstanding Musicianship presented by the Manhattan School of Music. In 1995 Rachmanov became a recipient of the ArtsLink grant, enabling him to travel to Russia for a series of successful performances. In 2008 Dr. Rachmanov was named the Jerome Richfield Memorial Scholar of the Year at California State University, Northridge. Dmitry Rachmanov studied at the Moscow’s Gnessins School of Music and has earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from The Juilliard School, where he received the William Petcheck Scholarship, and the DMA from Manhattan School of Music on full scholarship. His teachers include Ada Traub in Moscow, Nadia Reisenberg, Alexander Eydelman and Arkady Aronov in New York, and he has coached with Karl Ulrich Schnabel, Yvonne Lefbure, Claude Frank, Vitaly Margulis, John Browning, Andras Schiff and Menahem Pressler.

Dmitry Rachmanov is a Steinway Artist.