Award-winning Russian pianist and frequent guest of the world's concert stages, Alexander Sinchuk, is a particularly sought-after interpreter of compositions by A. Scriabin, PI Tchaikovsky and S. Rachmaninoff. On the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sergei Rachmaninov in Split, Sinchuk performs two Rachmaninoff cycles in the very heart of the composer's magnificent work for the piano - Études-tableaux op. 33 and op. 39. The name étude-tableau (etude-painting) is the composer's term, and the whole idea of ​​the cycle is somewhat reminiscent of Mussorgsky's series Pictures from an Exhibition. Although each of Rachmaninoff's etudes exudes a certain character, the composer wanted to compose absolute music, but he liked to play with his imagination with a book he had just read, a beautiful picture or a song. Each etude is the result of hard and meticulous work, with which the composer, as he said in an interview for The Etude magazine in 1941, tried to present the thematic idea concisely, without digressions, wanting to achieve simplicity and directness. In 1911, nine etudes from opus 33 were created, and the second series, op. 39, was created at the end of 1916 and the beginning of 1917. Short compositions of the highest level of virtuosity and extreme technical requirements have an unusual harmonic language, and in them there is an obsession with the motif of the Dies Irae sequence, which is present in many of Rachmaninoff's works. These etudes are rightly considered to be the starting point of the 19th century tradition of great composer-pianists. Opus 39 will also be the last thing that Rachmaninov composed before emigrating to America, where his career as a pianist will be in the foreground, and composing will take a back seat.

SCHUMANN: Humoresque in B-flat major, Op.20

-Intermission-

RACHMANINOV:

Etudes-Tableaux, Op.33 (Selections)

Preludes (Selections)