Rachmaninoff in the hands of Marek Kozak - mastery without ostentation To this day, Rachmaninoff's four concertos remain a touchstone for pianists around the world. His piano transcriptions of music by other composers (and of two of his own songs) do not attract so much attention, but what they tell us about the composer and his life is just as interesting. His arrangements place him alongside Liszt and Busoni, masters of the genre, whose transcriptions are both tributes to the originals and unique creations with a sonic aesthetic of their own. Rachmaninoff wrote most of his transcriptions between 1921 and 1929, when he was busily performing concerts and making recordings. On the concert stage, they allowed him to demonstrate his phenomenal technique. Among the supreme examples of his transcriptions are Mendelssohn's popular Scherzo from the incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream and three movements from Bach's Partita in E major for solo violin, BWV 1006. The 1941 arrangement of Tchaikovsky's Lullaby from the cycle Six Romances brings Rachmaninoff's entire oeuvre to a symbolic conclusion as a remembrance of his revered teacher and of an extraordinary human being. Each transcription bears witness to the humility and profound integrity of the composer's approach to such arrangements. Virtuosity, integrity, and humility are no less characteristic of the performer on this recording. Following his successful debut album featuring neglected Czech piano concertos (Kovarovic, Borkovec, Kapralova - Supraphon 2024), Marek Kozak demonstrates his mastery even in this - only seemingly - unassuming genre.
