We have already featured Lev Oborin (on APR6005) playing Rachmaninov's second and third Concertos, and that he
was entrusted with the first ever Soviet recordings of these works shows the status he held at that time. He studied with
Igumnov at the Moscow Conservatory from the age of 14 and in 1927, at the age of 19, he won the first Chopin
competition. From this time on until his death he was central to Russian musical life both as performer and teacher (he
taught Vladimir Ashkenazy amongst many others).
Oborin was the 'complete' pianist. He had a magnificent technique and seemed to be able to play any style of repertoire
convincingly. He was also equally at home as soloist or chamber player, indeed in the West he is still perhaps better
know as accompanist to the great violinist David Oistrakh due to the recordings they made together.
The present CD presents Oborin as classicist in Beethoven, as the great Chopin interpreter, as virtuoso in the Liszt
Rhapsody and as Russian lyricist in the Tchaikovsky. He is magnificent in all.