Piano Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 28
Prelude in D minor, Op. posth.
Oskolki 'fragments'
Oriental Sketch
Nunc dimittis
Moments musicaux, Op. 16

What I often find astonishing about Steven Osborne's playing is that he doesn't micromanage or display any affectationist tendencies, and yet all the smallest details relevant to the musical discourse always come to the surface. And it's by exposing all of these finer details that he reveals and turns the focus on a work's larger overall thematic concept from start to finish. Even his slightest dynamic fluctuations serve to highlight the music's impulse. The Piano Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 28 by Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943), symphonic in scope, certainly lends itself well to this type of approach. This sonata already hints at Rachmaninov's later grand-scale piano concertos.

Even in moments of quiet reverance, as in the composer's own piano adaptation of the Nunc dimittis from his All-Night Vigil, Steven Osborne reveals the proper emotive weight of a piece through subtle and yet exact emphasis on key notes and phrases. And within the early Moments musicaux, with their Chopinesque feel, he well captures and projects young Rachmaninov's grasp and flair for deeply lyrical romanticism.

Just like his recent previous Rachmaninov and Prokofiev recordings, there's something about Osborne's interpretations that draws you into the composer's vision, to the point where this guy sitting at the keyboard recedes from the soundstage, and allows the music to speak for itself. Now that's what I call musicianship.