Customer Reviews

Chopin:Rubinstein Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 [Hybrid SACD]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rubinstein recorded the Chopin Concertos numerous times. This version of Chopin's first Concerto is particularly successful, partly thanks to the sensitive accompaniment of the New London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Stanislaw Skrowaczewski. Tempos are well-judged, phrasing is supple and natural, virtuosity is there, but not for its own sake. The sound on the original LP and the first CD issue was plagued by dropouts at the beginning of the Concerto--these have been smoothed over remarkably. Balance between orchestra and piano has also been improved.

The Second Concerto is somewhat less successful. Here, Rubinstein is partnered by Alfred Wallenstein, his favored accompanist during the 1950s and early 1960s. Wallenstein secures reasonable playing from the Symphony of the Air, then long past its earlier glory as the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Purists should be warned that, at Rubinstein's insistence, the violins do not play "sui ponticello" as Chopin indicated in the last movement. Rubinstein's playing is fine, but the overall enjoyment of the performance is hampered by the sonic picture, which remains synthetic and dryish--despite the best efforts at SACD remastering. The later version with Ormandy is to be preferred over this one.

There are a number of fine couplings of the Chopin concertos in the catalog, however, so highly regarded were these Rubinstein recordings that for decades they were the standard by which all others were measured. Have they been superceded? Maybe, but they have a strong advantage in that they reflect what must have been hundreds of performances by the great Chopin pianist going back forty or more years. The best way to describe them is that they are very sturdy but elegant, completely fresh and inspired, splashed with poetic touches and also have plenty of muscle in the virtuoso passages.

The sonics, dating from 1958 and 1961, are naturally not state of the art, especially the second concerto which is the older of the two and in which the piano is a little dimmer than I recall from previous LP and cd incarnations. I do, however, think the sound on the first concerto is an improvement over anything I've heard before.

Very warmly recommended.

In the last 30 years I've listened to two different LP versions of this recording (the single-LP containing Cto #1 with the same cover as this SACD, and the double-LP version that contained both concertos plus the Andante Spianato) as well as the CD release from the '90s. The performances are excellent, but unfortunately, the recording was never done well, so the SACD engineers didn't have much to work with. If you purchase this knowing what to expect, you will enjoy the performance, but if you wish to have a "show-off" SACD for when company comes over, another Living Stereo such as the Offenbach Gaite Parisienne (which was recorded several years *earlier* than the Chopin) will knock your proverbial socks off.

The sounds coming off this disc are among the most beautiful ever committed to a mechanical recording device. No, I don't mean the recorded sound -- I mean the sound produced by a living human musician on his piano. This includes such items that no microphone technique can efface, however poor it may be: impeccable legato, perfect phrasing, living inside the music with your imagination, bringing it to life in vibrant splendour. The actual sounds coming out of your loudspeakers may not be as luminous when you compare them to a digital rexording. But this is music-making, not record making! This is Chopin, not musical wallpaper. You have to engage your heart together with your ears, or you'll lose the plot!

I can think of only one other Chopin concerto recording in this class: Piano Concerto 1. Very different in spirit, but equally valid. The Second Concerto had no rival to match Rubinstein.

So once in a while you must forget your loudspeakers and consider just the music. then you'll appreciate what a miracle this recording is, and you'll be grateful having had the chance to audition it.

I have never heard such bad recording from technical side. I do not know if it's bad remastering or no remastering at all. It's unacceptable for CD quality not even mentioning about SACD. Sounds beautiful but poor quality.