Presto Recording of the Week
18th March 2022

Ruth Slenczynska (piano)

Rachmaninov: Songs, Op. 38. No. 3, Daisies
Rachmaninov: Preludes Op. 32. No. 5 in G Major. Moderato
Barber: Nocturne 'Homage to John Field', Op. 33
Barber: Fresh from West Chester. II. Let's Sit It Out, I'd Rather Watch
Chopin: Grand valse brillante in E-Flat Major, Op. 18 (Ed. Paderewski)
Chopin: Berceuse in D flat major, Op. 57
Grieg: Lyric Pieces VIII, Op. 65. 6. Wedding Day at Troldhaugen
Debussy: Préludes - Book 1. No. 8, The Girl with the Flaxen Hair
Chopin: Études, Op. 10. No. 3 in E Major (Ed. Paderewski)
Chopin: Fantasia in F minor, Op. 49.
Chopin: Preludes, Op. 28. No. 23 in F Major. Moderato (Ed. Paderewski)
Bach, J S: Prelude and Fugue in C Sharp, BWV 848

“The greatest piano genius since Mozart” – Oli Downes

Having recorded for the Decca Gold Label in the 1950s and 60s, the last living pupil of the great Russian composer-pianist Sergei Rachaminoff Ruth Slenczynska returns to the label nearly 60 years later to release a brand new solo piano album, recorded in 2021, entitled ‘My Life in Music’. The album celebrates her remarkable life and performing career which began as a child prodigy in the 1920s and continues nine decades later. Born in 1925 in Sacramento, California, to Polish immigrants, Slenczynska gave her concert debut at the age of four (just as the world entered the Great Depression), performed on television aged five and at six made her European concert debut in Berlin. 92 years later, the extraordinary pianist still performs to audiences around the world. As a child, Ruth Slenczynska was taught by some of the most celebrated pianists in history.

‘My Life in Music’ is inspired by Slenczynska’s personal connections with Rachmaninoff, as well as American composer Samuel Barber, who was her fellow student and friend. Slenczynska heard Barber’s now world-famous Adagio for Strings in the classroom, before it even had its title. Slenczynska also explores the music of Chopin throughout the new album, including a piece she performed at the memorial service of one of the greatest pianists of all time, Vladimir Horowitz, a life-long friend. Chopin’s music formed Slenczynska’s musical foundations, with her father making her play all 24 Études before breakfast every morning. Slenczynska went on to earn a reputation as one of the most celebrated Chopin interpreters. The album also features pieces by Debussy, Grieg and Bach which, for her, conjure memories of some of her great piano mentors: Egon Petri, Alfred Cortot and Josef Hoffman.

"The immediacy of the past is made clear in the album’s accompanying notes – Slenczynska wears, to this day, a necklace given to her by her teacher Sergei Rachmaninov. And yet the album is far more than merely a means for us to feel nearer to the past; in just sixty-eight minutes of music Ruth Slenczynska shows herself to be a musician as sensitive and thoughtful today as she was in 1956 at the outset of her recording career." - David Smith, Presto Music, 18th March 2022.