Written over a period of 18 years, Rachmaninov’s sets of Préludes are a mirror and a record of his compositional development. With so rich a variety of character, colour, texture and mood, no two préludes are fully alike, and differentiation of tempo and register ensures that each prélude’s character is clearly defined. The first eleven pieces were conceived by Rachmaninov as a single cycle, and their full-hearted Romanticism contrasts with the significantly more angular, modernistic Op.32. Whether evoking ballad or bell toll, the exotic or folk influences, the Préludes stand in the great tradition of works by Bach and Chopin written in all 24 major and minor keys.

Boris Giltburg is lauded across the globe as a deeply sensitive, insightful and compelling musician. He has won numerous awards, including the Second (and audience) Prize at the Rubinstein Competition in 2011, and in 2013 he won First Prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition, catapulting his career to a new level. In 2015 he began a long-term recording plan with Naxos. At home with repertoire ranging from Beethoven to Shostakovich, in recent years he has been increasingly recognised as a leading interpreter of Rachmaninov. Boris is an avid amateur photographer and blogger, writing about classical music for a non-specialist audience.

Boris Giltburg’s Rachmaninov recordings for Naxos received numerous praises and awards. Recently he won Best Soloist Recording (20th/21st century) at the inaugural Opus Klassik Awards for his recording of Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Carlos Miguel Prieto, coupled with the Études-tableaux, Op.33 (8573629). In May 2018 Naxos released his recording of the Third Piano Concerto and Corelli Variations with the same forces (8573630), which has already garnered spectacular reviews including a Gramophone Choice award. His recording of the Études-tableaux, Op.39 and Moments musicaux was a Gramophone ‘Recording of the Month’ (June 2016) and BBC Music Magazine ‘Instrumental Choice’.

In January 2019 Naxos released Boris’s recording of Liszt’s Transcendental Etudes (8573981), which was praised by The Sunday Times (London) as ‘a Liszt disc of the most compelling brilliance.’

He won a Diapason d’Or for his first concerto recording – the Shostakovich concerti with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Vasily Petrenko, coupled with his own arrangement of Shostakovich’s Eighth String Quartet (8.573666) – and his solo recordings of Schumann (8573399) and Beethoven (8573400) have been similarly well received.