Prelude

Rachmaninoff’s Prélude in D major from his op. 23 collection is a wonderfully dreamy nocturne in the style of Chopin. The engaging immediacy of its poetic magic and the fact that it is only moderately difficult make this piece an ideal introduction to the late-Romantic, colourful sound world of Rachmaninoff’s 24 Préludes. The Henle Urtext editions of Rachmaninoff’s music are based on the autograph sources in the Glinka Archive in Moscow. The fingerings are by Marc-André Hamelin, who is both one of the exceptional pianists of our day and also an expert in Russian late-Romantic piano music.