William Kapell - Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 2 and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini / Shostakovich: 3 Preludes (2000)

The critical line at the time William Kapell and Fritz Reiner's recording of Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini was that Kapell "found the modernist in the Rhapsody without betraying Rachmaninov's Romantic heart." Well, maybe. Sure, this Rhapsody's angular and edgy, which might qualify Kapell's interpretation as modernist. And sure, this Rhapsody still got a super-soupy 18th variation, so maybe Kapell's interpretation didn't betray Rachmaninov's Romanticism. But the most interesting thing about Kapell's interpretation was how funny it was. Right from his first entrance -- those absurd rising C sharp octaves -- Kapell seems to find the humor in the Rhapsody without giving up on either Modernism or Romanticism. And suddenly the Rhapsody seems like a new piece: not a misguided attempt on Rachmaninov's part to write a Modernist work nor a failed attempt to fuse modernism and Romanticism, but a droll, witty parody of Modernism and Romanticism. This might not be interpretively correct, but it sure is funny.
However, this approach doesn't workso well for the Rachmaninov Concerto No. 2, which also appeared on this volume of the Kapell Edition. First, the piece isn't funny; second, the piece isn't modernist; third, playing it as if every note counted is a big mistake. In the Rachmaninov No. 2, notes count less than feelings and Kapell seems really passionate only about getting the notes right. The three Shostakovich preludes that appear as fillers work much better as droll, witty modernist music since they are in fact droll, witty modernist music. Particularly effective is the parody of Chopin's Prelude in C sharp minor. Kapell brilliantly catches the work's combination of sarcasm and sentimentality. While not perhaps to all tastes, this is still a great disc.