# Rachmaninov's Vocalise



## Il Pirata (Nov 26, 2010)

Ah! Which is your favourite rendering of this lovely, melancholic work?

Mine remains that by the late Anna Moffo with Stokowski conducting, in an arrangement not by the composer. It sweeps me of my feet! It is the standard by which I measure oall other Vocalises....


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## TWhite (Feb 23, 2010)

Though I like Moffo a lot, my favorite is still the work as originally written for voice and piano. Elisabeth Soderstrom and Vladimir Ashkenazy made a wonderful recording of most of the Rachmaninov songs about 20 years ago, and their collaboration on the Vocalise is still my favorite. Soderstrom's phrasing and breath control is remarkable, and Ashkenazy provides just the right partnership IMO in the piano part (the piano parts to most of the Rachmaninov songs are almost independent compositions in their own right, but support the vocal lines beautifully). 

Tom


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