Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No.2; Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.5 "Emperor"

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Sergey Rachmaninov (Composer), Fritz Reiner (Conductor), Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Van Cliburn (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Van Cliburn
• Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Fritz Reiner
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven, Sergey Rachmaninov
• Audio CD (March 15, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000003FN0
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,442 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rachmaninoff excellent, June 6, 2000

By 

J. Buxton "cantabile" (Waltham, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No.2; Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.5 "Emperor" (Audio CD)

While I'm glad I have this cd, I wish I would have paid a few dollars more and purchased the Van Cliburn cd that couples the same Rachmaninoff recording found here with the Tchaikovsky concerto. The Rachmaninoff is first rate, with thunderous climaxes, melancholic phrases, and a wonderfully poetic adagio. Also, the huge chord in the final movement that leads to the final few bars brings me goosebumps. I must admit some disappointment with the Beethoven however. Although recorded only a year earlier, the sound quality is not nearly as good. Van Cliburn's playing sounds wonderful, but I often had the sense that he and the orchestra were not entirely together. Pay the few extra dollars and buy the coupling with the Tchaikovsky (which is a legendary recording).

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful recording, April 5, 2004

By 

facedog99 (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No.2; Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.5 "Emperor" (Audio CD)

Although there are plenty of good renderings of the Emperor to go around (two of my favorites are Rudolf Serkin with Seiji Ozawa and Krystian Zimerman with Leonard Bernstein), this CD should be seriously considered. The tempos are just right, and the recording, considering it was made in the 50's is astonishing. Cliburn doesn't make me feel as though he is rushing to get to the end, as have so many others. But the real jewel here is the Rachmaninoff. It is everything a concerto should be...dazzling piano virtuosity, beautiful orchestral support and heartbreaking tender moments. Listening to this puts a lump in my throat every time.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Likely to be a first choice., December 26, 2004

By 

John Austin "[e-mail]" (Kangaroo Ground, Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No.2; Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.5 "Emperor" (Audio CD)

In the chancy business of recording piano concertos, there are so many requirements that it is rare to find a total success. Sometimes pianist and conductor are not in rapport. Aural balancing is sometimes faulty. Interpretation might be valid in parts but lacking in overall perception. The sound spectrum might be limited or distorted.

Several playings of this CD, kindly recommended by a Texas friend, leave me unable to fault it in any way. In the Rachmaninov, the outer movements proceed at an unhurried pace allowing both lyricism and excitement to register, with a poetic account of the second movement separating them. I cannot recall a performance so effective. So architecturally perfect is the Cliburn/Reiner account of the Beethoven "Emperor" Concerto (the one that pianists tell me is the more difficult of the two to play) that it would be misleading to point to any details. This is truly a great recording of the century.

The remastering of these Chicago recordings from the early 1960s is yet another total success.