Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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).

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.

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.

...It would be this recording and this interpretation that probably they would choose to hear its music. Although some deficiencies techniques, the clarity and quality of the sound are fantastic, what, allied to a inhaled and sublime interpretation (pianístic and orchestral) it allows to conclude that this disk is precious and must belong obligatorily to any personal disklibrary. Van Cliburn Its for me as the best interpreter of the Rachmaninoff's concertos 2 and 3.

This is truly the best recording and interpretation of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto I have ever heard. Even though I have listened to this recording countless times, I have yet to uncover a flaw in this piece. The best recording of Rachmaninoff's Second available!

I'm new to classical music, and I was lucky enough to make this my first purchase. What a great place to start! As a jazz fan, the only thing I can relate it to is purchasing Miles Davis' Kind of Blue as your first jazz album. What emotion on this album. If you love music, you'll feel this album in your gut, heart and mind. It's wonderful.

Van Cliburn's performances, full of all the virtuosity of a true piano artist, has gotten even a competition named after him- the Van Cliburn competition in which hopeful and promising new pianists are discovered. Van Cliburn was a musical genius. His skill and unrivaled technique made him a star, even for one so young. On this recording, Van Cliburn plays two concerti that are considered virtuosic pieces and he's doing one hell of a terrific performance. It's a great album to have if you like the music of Beethoven and Rachmaninov and also the stylings of Van Cliburn. It's incredible and you will not be disappointed. This is how these concertos should be played. Van Cliburn is a role model for pianists all over the world.

Beethoven's Emperor Piano Concerto, Number 5, his last piano concerto, is his most brilliant. The monumental piece has a dignified grandeur and lyrical splendor that made the piano much more than a solo instrument. It made the piano a symphony in its own right. The first movement is classical in structure but the piano is given a lot more attention. Also, it's more Romantic ultimately than classical. For years to come afterward, piano composers were greatly influenced by this concerto and its romanticism. The second movement, the adagio, is heart-warming and lyrical, a romantic piece that was even used prominently as the love theme in the film about Beethove and his true love, Immortal Beloved. The finale, the Rondo, is a dazzling and passionate as fireworks and concludes the concerto in the typical Beethoven heroism and triumph. Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 is his best. It's one of the most difficult and technically demanding concerti in all of the piano repertoire. Rachmaninov, recovering from a bout of depression in which he almost stopped composing altogether, returned to life with this impressive concerto. It's dark, it's furious, it's dramatic, it's romantic. In a very novel style, which makes the piano more dynamic, the piano becomes a second orchestra next to the orchestra that its being pitted against. Van Cliburn is at his best here and the sound of the recording is well-edited and remastered for digital cd's. It's a must have.

Van Cliburn is perfectly suited to play this work. He provides thunder when appropriate, and wistful poetry in the beautiful second movement. This work has been played by all of the great pianists, but Cliburn's interpretation leaves all of them far behind.

The Rach. #2 is played with sensitivity; Cliburn's feel for this work is right on target. I cannot think of another performance as heart-felt as his.

I'm not sure I agree with the reviews here... To me, Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto is one of those strongly Russian pieces that loses a lot of its vigor if its Slavic edge is muted, as it is in this recording. Fritz Reiner conducts the orchestra with leaden overstatement, as if it were Brahms or Wagner or some other Germanic composer. Van Cliburn gives a typically energetic performance, but in my mind it lacks the Slavic edge that you hear in, e.g., Rachmaninov's own performance of the piece. It's too optimistic and not harsh enough--in short, it's too American and insufficiently Russian.

To me, Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto here is even more obviously lacking. The orchestra and Van Cliburn clearly fail to play together more than once. RCA seems to have added this recording as padding to fill the CD--don't treat it as anything else.

first off, i am a jazz fan, seldom listen to classical music. however, i came across this music purely by random luck. how lucky i was, this music is amazing. i do not know much about classical music so cannot provide you with the nice comments ala the rest of the reviewers on this board. however, from a jazz fan perspective, this is some truly virtuoso performance. the music is complex yet extremely fun and emotinal to listen to. although the music was recorded over 40 years ago, the quality of the reproduction to CD was fantastic. also, i must mention the chicago symphony was GREAT. my guess is, without the CSO, the impact of this music may be much diminished. great CD, must buy!!!