Rachmaninov's 24 Preludes

Lucy Parham chooses her favourite recording of Rachmaninov's 24 piano preludes.

Rachmaninov's 24 piano preludes in all the 24 major and minor keys are a glorious treasure trove of different pianistic styles from lyrical to barn-storming. He wrote and published them at different times, and didn't regard them as a unified set. Unlike the keyboard preludes of Bach and Chopin they are not organized according to their keys either. But for a feast of piano playing, they are an essential thing for your library. And some of the titans of the keyboard have recorded their interpretations, including the composer himself how recorded a selection of them.