Customer Reviews

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No.3/Sonata No.2

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The version of Rachmaninoff's Third Concerto was originally recorded live in January of 1978 and released about three weeks after the concert. By rushing the LP into stores, RCA was able to cash in on the publicity of Horowitz's Golden Jubilee, but the sound on the original release was very poor indeed. The piano was miked too closely, and the orchestra mix was very poor. The CD released in the mid-1980s was a great improvement over the LP, but the sonics were problematic there also: The piano was mixed down too severely and seemed to recede behind the orchestra in some passages. This new High Performance reissue is a vast improvement over both earlier versions. The balance problems have been solved, and both piano and orchestra have a much warmer, deeper sound. The dynamic range has been greatly opened up--the final timpani THWACK at the end of the Concerto is quite startling.

As for the performance, this remains my sentimental favorite--even though Horowitz was in better shape in the 1951 version with Reiner than he was in 1978. (He was 74 when this recording was made.) There is something about Horowitz's phrasing, his ability to vary the tempo without losing hold of the basic pulse, and his mixing of inner voices that seems so right. It is more than mere piano playing, it is the art of PERFORMANCE. Bringing the music to life is more than putting the right finger in the right place at the right time--and Horowitz was a master of this elusive art. The Rachmaninoff Third Concerto was undoubtedly the greatest piano concerto of the 20th century, and this is my desert island performance--warts and all.

The Sonata was recorded in concert in 1980. Horowitz plays his own "compromise" version of the Sonata--which is an improvement over the rambling 1913 original and emasculated 1931 editions. It's a pity that no Horowitz Performing Edition was ever published. Personally, I prefer Horowitz's lithe, pantherlike 1968 recording on Sony to the brooding, moody performance heard here. The sound on the Sony disc is also superior, but RCA has again improved the sound over earlier issues. The piano sounds warmer and less tinny, and the dynamic range is greatly increased.

This disc is a must for all piano enthusiasts.

If you want classic, hard charging Horowitz, buy his 1951 recording. If you want a poetic performance, buy Van Cliburn's 1958 recording. Both of these albums are spectacular, and listening to them is one of life's great pleasures. However, in his 1978 performance, Horowitz indulges in the sentimentality characteristic of his later career. Such romanticism is not his comparative advantage, and this recording does not satisfy so well as others.

People who say this is THE BEST Rachmaninoff 3 (seems like every Rachmaninoff 3 is the best Rachmaninoff 3) probably have heard very few others. And no, it's not true that Rachy himself stopped playing the concerto after hearing VH play it in 1928. Rachmaninoff had a long and successful solo career that included many performances of this work through the 1930s and 40s...this can easily be looked up. In fact, he tired of playing it, but the public and his agents pretty much forced it on him. His own recording, made in 1939, is superb, though Horowitz's first, made in 1930 with Coates and the LSO (EMI, sadly out of print) is far better--one of the very best, in fact.

This recording, however, is acoustically harsh and brittle, fast, unfelt, and nervous. Ormandy leads a New York Philharmonic that is really not interested in responding at all (they can frequently be this way to guest conductors). With so many recordings crowding the field, I can't understand why this one is still around, except that perhaps many people are "sucked in" by the "event" surrounding the performance. But such event performances and recordings are often disappointing. (Bernstein at "The Wall," Richter's 1st Carnegie Hall performance, Argerich, Maisky and Kremer doing the DSCH E minor trio.) And, unlike some here, I refuse to give this CD brownie points because it is a recording of an "event." Let the playing determine the event, not the hype.

For some thrilling modern performances of the concerto, try Lazar Berman/Bernstein/NYPO, 1958, or Pletnev/Rostropovich/Russian Nat'l Orchestra on DG. For the best historic performance, it's Horowitz/Coates/1930. Rachmaninoff's own performance, a shade below the Horowitz of 1930, is also indespensible. This recording, alas, is not.

This is a performance of a well worn warhorse which Horowitz was uniqely associated with for half a century and more. It is an extremely idiosyncratic reading and full of special insights. The piano playing is not quite as specatcular as it was earlier in Horowitz's career but by any standard it is still remarkable.

Comparisons with others such as Ashkenazy, Argerich, Bolet and others is largely spurious. You should buy this disc for what it is... a special document of a performance that many thought would never happen, so late in Horowitz's career. This playing is as enthralling as it can be frustrating and that is the point. Horowitz was in transition from the the earlier fire eating virtuoso to the later more introverted and poetic man of the last decade of his life.

Shortly after this, following a less successful London performance and a pretty disastrous Japanese tour, he suffered a major mental and physical collapse. From that collapse he emerged a greatly changed musician as much in tune with Mozart and Haydn as with the great romantics. His fab fingers never failed him to the end.

Recording is not great but the piano sound is okay and fully conveys the electricty of Horowitz's playing. The orchestra under Ormandy, who collaborated with Rachmaninov himself, doesn't quite get the recorded balance it should which is a pity. It is such a shame that RCA and CBS made such a repeated hash of Horowitz's recordings throughout their associations with him. The sound is a lot better in its remastered version but it is no Sony or top drawer Decca.

The second sonata is a fabulous performance and fully demonstrates Horowitz's amazing ability to sing and voice the musical lines in an unparalleled way. Here is the famed independence of fingers and musical imagination that won him fans among his colleagues and infuriated so many critics over the years. This reading is also the result of a lifetime's experience and the drama is almost incredible. He made a recording in the late sixties of this sonata and in broad lines the conception is similar. The two are well worth having but this later one is, for me, more viscerally exciting. Some of the phrasing and voicing is very touching. Spliced from two concert performances, there are some sound mismatches but the resulting whole is very satisfactory.

Enjoy!!

Rachmaninoff was a great friend and mentor to Horowitz and they shared an affinity for melody, beautiful sound, wide dynamics, huge range of tonal colors, and drama. I think this is a very beautiful recording of the concerto. Though not as brilliant as the recording he made with Reiner in 1951, it sure is a better sounding recording. It isn't that there is anything wrong with it, in fact it is brilliant, it is just that this older Horowitz had lost a bit on his fastball as it were. But this is the recording, in its original LP release, is the one that I first heard this concerto and fell immediately in love and it still holds a tremendous amount of magic for me, especially since it is a live performance. However, if you want to hear the peak of the Horowitz virtuosity get the RCA Victor Gold Seal Disk #7754. It has the same recording of the Sonata, but adds some smaller works. It is worth everything just for the recording of the Concerto #3 even if you duplicate the sonata.

The sonata is also a fabulous live recording. The opening massiveness with its crash and roar is a pianistic sound I have never heard any other pianist make as convincingly in any place at any time. It is absolutely unique in my experience and the whole performance is blindingly wonderful. Horowitz has not only fused two versions that Rachmaninoff played, he also made some other changes he felt the composer would approve. I believe him.

Be aware that even in live recordings, Horowitz would edit together multiple performances and could be very demanding in approving the final version.

Get this disk and enjoy these pieces. It is great pianism and I believe it is something you should want to have in your collection.

It would be too cruel to say that this disc can only be enjoyed by those with poor taste. I don't want to disparage those listeners who find that they like this recording, which features two of the most celebrated performers of Rachmaninoff - pianist Vladimir Horowitz and conductor Eugene Ormandy, both of whom knew the composer intimately and collaborated with him. The first time I listened to this CD as a young musician in search of inspiration, I was impressed, too. Subjectively, the old maestros Horowitz and Ormandy can have quite an impact. And as other reviewers have said, it is certainly more pleasant to listen to than the very shoddy original record released 3 weeks after the performance.

Objectively, though, and by the standards of piano playing today, this recording ranks among the worst ever made. The problems are numerous and overpowering, and they compound upon one another to produce a vile concoction. Even the sympathetic David Dubal, a good friend of Horowitz's and the editor of Remembering Horowitz: 125 Pianists Recall a Legend, wrote that this performance was "marked by excess and self-absorbed melancholy." Some of these problems are: a crass, harsh pianistic tone that sounds like the hammers were filed to a point to sound as percussive as possible; a dire lack of either forward drive or convincing languor; only the most tenuous of connections between pianist and conductor; and wrong notes all over the place.

The severe lapse in quality, compared with his great recordings from the '30s and '50s, is characteristic of his work from the late '70s. Horowitz was always temperamental; at the height of his fame in the '50s, he suddenly withdrew from performing. A decade later, he re-emerged, already sixty-two years old, and re-launched his career with the same force that had come with his emergence in the '20s as a virtuoso of astonishing ability. From there he enjoyed many productive years, but by the late '70s, he had started to decline. He aged, as everyone does, and wrestled with health problems. By 1982, he was a shadow of himself, heavily medicated and suffering severe memory lapses, but a period of recuperation saw him give some of the most amazing recordings of Mozart, Schumann, and Scriabin in the final years of his life. But before that, unfortunately, he left a Liszt Sonata, some Schubert Impromptus, a Chopin First Ballade, and a Rachmaninoff Third Concerto which are deplorable.

The Horowitz of 1965 who had been so good at assimilating the entire content of the score was replaced with an artist in a fat-Elvis period, no longer able to hold his concentration and forced to compensate with fireworks. It all rings false, and does no favors to the music he plays. Instead of this, by all means, hear Horowitz's earlier recording with Fritz Reiner. The same performance of the Sonata from this CD is also on that disc, so you can still decide for yourself whether you agree with me. Even if you don't like the 1980 Sonata, though, the 1951 Concerto is excellent, worlds apart from this 1978 recording, and well worth the price. There are also some appealing encore pieces included on that disc which are absent here, so all in all, it's clearly the better choice.

I can assume this will not be a terribly popular review, because Horowitz is - rightly - one of the sacred cows of the pianistic world, but to this listener, this disc is the nadir of Horowitz's output, and its popularity is puzzling and unfortunate.

This is a new reissue of a previous RCA Red Seal disc with only the concerto performance. Taken the advantage of the latest technology, Horowitz, with one of his warhorses, demonstrated why his interpretation remained unrivaled throughout the years, though the performance was made in his seventies. From the notes of the old reissue, it was mentioned that part of the performance was not "live" but made in the studio. I hope the new disc can give us the full live version. I dare not say it is the best performance of this concerto given by Horowitz but it will be the replacement of my old CD anyway.

In 1978, pianist Vladimir Horowitz played his Golden Jubilee concert at Carnegie Hall. I remember buying the original Red Seal vinyl album of this concert. The dynamic range was astounding, at least until I wore the grooves out. The dynamics of this CD, however, don't match what I remember---they seem a bit flat. Still, I was happy to see this recording had been reissued on CD, and in an audiophile 24/96 edition.

Everyone was "on" for this concert: Horowitz's performance is outstanding, and the orchestra is superb. Some might quibble that certain parts of this recording were re-recorded to correct mistakes, but I'd rather not here the sour notes, as they tend to ruin my appreciation of the piece.

To fill out the CD they added Horowitz's recording of Rachmaninoff's Sonata No. 2, which is not my favorite piece. Something isn't right; it just doesn't fit either the spirit or the mood generated at the Golden Jubilee concert.

For those missing a Rachmaninoff 3rd Piano Concerto in their collection, start with Reiner/Horowitz or this one, Ormandy/Horowitz. Horowitz was perhaps _the_ interpreter of this particular concerto, and at least the two above mentioned recordings are must-haves.

The Rach 3rd belongs in the canon of best Piano Concertos, and Horowitz gives it the warmth and weight it deserves. Really, if you are a piano enthusiast, you just can't go wrong here. The sound quality of this CD may be less than optimal for people demanding absolute crispness, but I'm not fussy when it comes down to such technicalities.

The eight or so other reviews here are splendid, so I'm not going to repeat things to the point where they become numbing. I recommend this CD without reservations.

Horowitz, now this guy leaves me breathless after his magnificent playing of Rachmaninoff's third. This concerto has always been a favorite of mine, I've many recordings of it, including Wild, Askenazy, and others. No one can match the power of this pianist. He does indeed chill the spine. And the performance is so beautiful also. However the sound is only passable. But this is a must addition to any classical music buff.