Works for piano by Rachmaninoff performed by Nareh Arghamanyan on October 21, 2012 and work for violin and piano by Kreisler performed by Bella Hristova and Ieva Jokubaviciute on February 28, 2010.Rachmaninoff: Morceaux de fantasie, Op. 3: Elégie, Prelude in C-sharp minor, Melodie in E MajorRachmaninoff: Etude-Tableaux, Op. 33, No. 1-No. 5Kreisler: LiebesleidMost composers have the ability to perform their own music. Many play several instruments. But there are a few who stand out, in music history, as having especially prodigious performing skills, talents that were more or less commensurate with their abilities as composers.Rachmaninoff is perhaps the best-known composer in this category. He was, by all accounts, a uniquely gifted pianist and needless to say, he wrote piano music often. We’ll hear two such works: the first three movements of his Morceaux de fantasie, including the Prelude in C-sharp minor, which you may well recognize; and the first five of his Etudes-Tableaux. Both were performed at the Gardner by 25-year-old pianist Nareh Arghamanyan, an Armenian virtuoso who has won prizes at more than 18 major international piano competitions.After Nareh’s performance, we’ll hear another piece composed by a virtuoso, for his own instrument. In this live recording, violinist Bella Hristova and pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute play the Liebesleid of Fritz Kreisler, a brief, lyrical work that is, like the Rachmaninoff pieces, a perfect embodiment of the unique gifts of its author. Kreisler cultivated a sweet, singing, expressive sound that was widely recognized as uniquely “his.” In our podcast, we’ll hear another young violinist developing a voice of her own.