“Little known in this country, Bulgarian pianist Ivan Yanakov combines three unusual works on his new album that have little in common: a piano version of an organ piece by César Franck, a middle-range sonata by Haydn, and Rachmaninoff’s late “Corelli” Variations. In the booklet, he underscores his special relationship to all three works, and thus succeeds in profoundly developing their distinct “spirits.”
Like the well-known late work “Prélude, Choral et Fugue,” the “Prélude, Fugue et Variation” of 1864, originally composed for organ, is also a homage to Johann Sebastian Bach. Yanakov plays the 10-minute piece with a soft, opulent sonority, thus thoroughly romantic. While in Haydn’s experimental A-flat major sonata of 1768, he pays attention to structural clarity, flowing lines, and fresh tempi, but here too he avoids any sharp contours or overly dry playing.

Yanakov is a thoughtful aesthete and lyric poet, attentive to euphony, who magically captivates the listener with his sophisticated sound direction. Thus, even in Rachmaninoff’s late, still underrated Corelli Variations, the somber counterpart to the cheerfully playful Paganini Rhapsody, he avoids any virtuoso bravado or demonstrative athleticism, but rather experiences them spiritually from within, as a sequence of enigmatic, at times pessimistic thoughts and visions of an emigrant hopelessly cut off from his homeland. Here, the dominant feature is less the “steel arms” than the “golden heart” of the Russian late Romantic. Thus, in Yanakov’s convincing interpretation, all three works are united by a secret inner strength.”

Attila Csampai, November 2, 2024