My favorite Rachmaninoff piece, and on most days, my favorite solo work in the entire piano repertoire.
Rachmaninoff's First Piano Sonata is, compared to Rachmaninoff's other, more popular works, pretty obscure, being constantly dwarfed by the Second Sonata. While it's not as motivically and structurally tight (Almost every material in the Second Sonata is derived from the first nine seconds, which is pretty unbelievable.), it's a lot more motivically and thematically transformative; Rachmaninoff frequently recycles and rekindles previous material into new subjects, some of which are almost unrecognizable from the motif it was derived from.
The Sonata itself is really hypnotic; while it certainly is a virtuosic piece, it doesn't sound like one in the same way that the Second Sonata is a virtuosic piece. All the textures are carefully blended in together to create this ethereal gradient effect. It's one of the most otherworldly things Rachmaninoff has ever conceived, the others being the Études-Tableaux.
A funny thing about the third movement; despite being the longest, it has the shortest middle section/development, clocking in at around 40 seconds. Most of the third movement is taken up by the massive expositions, with at least five main themes.
When I first heard this recording, I couldn't believe the amount of control Osborne had over this gargantuan. All the passages are meticulously phrased, each note is voiced with astonishing clarity, there is rarely any "emergency rubato," and even the tiniest details pop out. While there's probably pianists that have a more artistic approach to this sonata, Osborne's is the most effortless and capable that I've heard; there's not a single hint of struggle. (*Subjectivity alert* - For context, Osborne blows most modern recordings like Shelley, Hayroudinoff, Lugansky, Wang clean out of the water, and is practically on par with Chochieva's, whom I believed to be the best modern recording until now. Although, this shouldn't discourage you from listening to the others; they're magnificent in their own way.)
00:00 - First Movement
12:53 - Second Movement
21:36 - Third Movement
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Source of audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cQGlW_Zuhw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkHRJaJbH88 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-80C0rlMkmY