Yes, It's "That" Theme !

This month's free disk with BBC Music magazine is romantic Russian fare. The feature piece is Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini performed live by Macedonian pianist Simon Trpceski with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sir Andrew Davis. Perhaps surprisingly, this is the first recording that I have of this piece. It is a bit of a mystery to me why Paganini's theme has been so attractive to other composers writing variations ( it may have been spoilt for me by a notorious theme tune to a tv arts series ! ) But Rachmaninov's variations stand above all others, particularly because of the master stroke of the inversion variation and the gorgeous melody that it produces. This live recording dates from seven years ago but even then Trpceski demonstrates the promise that he is now beginning to fulfil. The disk also includes Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 3 with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. Not one of the more frequently played of Tchaikovsky's symphonies but shown here to be a solid mainstream work with some typical Tchaikovsky melodies and with some sections reminiscent of Mendelssohn to my ears and demonstrating Tchaikovsky's admiration for the central European school.