Zoltan Kocsis & Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra - Rachhmaninov, Debussy, Dohnanyi (CD)

The programme of this disc can be considered the apotheosis of orchestration (Zoltán Kocsis)It is only a slight exaggeration to say that the programme of this disc can be considered the apotheosis of orchestration, because the works herein occupy a special place in the composers' oeuvre regarding the treatment of the orchestra. Dohnányi's orchestra, divided into three, positively wallows in the specific orchestral colours afforded by the opportunities of polyphony. Rachmaninov's symphony, although written for a conventional ensemble, is perhaps the composer's most interesting, most daring score, in which the most striking feature is the extraordinarily virtuoso treatment of the three trumpet parts. For my part, I too tried to act free from all anachronism, utterly true to the spirit of Debussy, when I undertook the transcription of an unjustly neglected masterpiece; this would clearly not have occurred to me if the original piano accompaniments had not suggested so clearly the possibi