Customer Reviews

Rachmaninoff: Preludes (complete)

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THE BEST

I own many recordings of the Rachmaninoff Piano Preludes; however, Alexis Weissenberg's playing of them is the very best. The thunderous ones are delivered with jaw-dropping bravura and the tender ones are delivered with great emotional depth coming from his very soul. You won't believe Alexis' technique.

Many pianist have complained that Rachmaninoff's piano works are almost unplayable due to the fact they were written for Rachmaninoff himself whose hands were physically enormous. I can remember many years ago an interview with a world famous pianist that had just recorded the Preludes and he was almost in tears recounting the demands of the works he had just recorded. Well, from listening to Weissenberg?s recording, I don't think he shed any tears over the demands of the works. His playing is truly exciting in every way.

If you want to hear the Rachmaninoff Preludes played as no one else can play them, buy this disc.

Alexis Weissenberg is a superb pianist -- quite possibly the greatest pianist of the recorded era. It is difficult for me to understand why he has never received the accolades accorded to, say, Horowitz. Although Weissenberg's technique is astounding, it is always used not for show but in support of his incredible artistry. His performances of the Rachmaninov Preludes are quite simply awesome -- covering the full range from gently lyrical to stormingly exhuberent, depending upon what is appropriate for the music. You will probably never hear a finer performance of this music -- or finer piano playing in any reperoire.

What is really incredible in this CD is not only the great artistry and lyricism, of Weissenberg - from the hammer blows to the murmers - but the quality of sound which is superb enough to demonstrate the capabilities of one's wide-range audio systems. Although recorded in 1968-69, it is obvious that the recording engineers of that time had the technical capabilities to capture the sound of the piano in all its magnificience, seldom reached with all of the current technology. (My CD is a reissue on the BMG label and although not so marked on the jewel case, it is a - to repeat,a brilliantly - remastered disk). One hears the composer and the performer working together transparently. That is what CD-making should be all about!

I have an enormous collection these Preludes. From Richter, Rachmaninov, Horowitz, Sofronitsky, to Hayroudinoff, Luganksy, and all the wonderful ones in between[Hofmann, Gilels, Moiseiwitsch, etc]. As far as single collections go[those containing all the preludes] this one has never been surpassed. And I dont think there has ever been a faster, more clear recording of op23.2. Breathtaking!!!!
Weissenberg himself is a shockingly inconsistent pianist. It is inconceivable to me how one pianist that can produce such a volcanic talent here can also bore you to sleep with his Goldberg variations, but, as with Richter, when he is at his best-he is one of the greats[I would never compare him directly to Richter-or anyone else for that matter[.
For those looking to purchase one disc containing all of these remarkable pieces, look no furthur. Richter never recorded them all, nor did Moiseiwitsch or Rach himself. More recently a pianist named Rustem Hayroudinoff recorded them all for Chandos, and did so very well. But they dont stand up to these. The sound is fine-there is absolutely nothing to complain about there.
Dont hesitate. This is a set for a lifetime.

Alexis Weissenberg is a fairly one-dimensional pianist. In the liner notes, he says "I am basically an aggressive person, and I could not behave otherwise toward an instrument that I try to possess." In short, Weissenberg attempts to mercilessly pound the instrument into submission. His aggressive style makes the music sound hard, which it is, of course, but, as Liszt felt, virtuosity is not an end in itself but a means of getting at the soul of the music. The point of extreme virtuosity is actually NOT to call attention to itself but, rather, to make the difficult seem effortless. Weissenberg plays in a manner which seems intent on saying, "Look! I can play really hard music!" I also own and have studied the complete prelude recordings of Howard Shelley and Vladimir Ashkenazy, both of whom seem far less labored with the virtuosity and have more time for interpretation. Generally, they both even take faster tempos on the "hard" ones than Weissenberg and sound better doing it.

Having said that, is is interesting to me that Weissenberg is actually at his best when he is FORCED to interpret and emote. In preludes that are songful rather than overtly athletic (i.e. D Major, Gb Major, G Major, F Major), he strikes a wonderful balance between aggression and beauty. The D Major, in particular, is glorious, full of passion and eroticism rather than the staid, obligatory love song that is normally made of it.

I don't mean to suggest that the fast ones are bad and the slow ones are good. Many of the performances are at least tolerable. Along with the ones already mentioned, other effective performances include the preludes in C# Minor, Bb Major, E Minor, F Minor, and G# Minor. I consider this compilation an interesting disc for study and reflection on piano technique and interpretation, recommended for pianists studying the preludes. For those looking for their first, or a definitive, set of the preludes, I would recommend looking to Howard Shelley or Vladimir Ashkenazy.

I always considered Weissenberg as not only a tremendous virtuoso but also as a very inspired musician. With this Rachmaninov recording, Weissenberg lives up to his reputation. He's as sensitive in Rachmaninov's dishevelling technique as in Bach's Partitas.

I don't know much about the technical quality of this performance or recording. I can say that I've been listing to the Preludes since I was a child in probably a half-dozen different recordings. This performance and recording evoke in me the best sensations I experienced listening to this music as a boy.

Alexis Weissenberg has always been a very controversial artist. Whatever he played - Chopin, Liszt, Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff, Debussy - he never played it in an ordinary way. I was introduced to his artistry by his concerto recordings with Karajan, which include Rachmaninoff's Second, Tchaikovsky's First, and Beethoven's five, and which are somewhat less idiosyncratic than usual with him. Later I heard quite a few of his solo piano recordings, but the truth is that I have never come to grips with Weissenberg. I almost always find his playing fascinating but I almost never really like it. In fact, the relationship is a typical love-hate one, both components being present on almost every single disc, sometimes even in the same work. This is pretty much the case with Weissenberg's complete recording of Rachmaninoff's preludes, alas. I heard it for the first many years ago and was completely appalled by what seemed to me mad rushing and gross insensitivity. Since then I have come back to the CD but a few times, always trying to free myself from my old prejudice, yet I always ended running away horrified. The next few paragraphs are an attempt to explain why the last of my efforts is most probably - the last.

The greatest problem with Alexis' interpretations of Rachmaninoff's preludes is the most obvious one: his tempi are highly unorthodox, usually much faster than anybody else's. What takes Ashkenazy more than 80 minutes, Alexis tosses off in less than 73 minutes, namely full 10% faster - which is a lot. Therefore it is all the more surprising to find here one of the slowest (about 5 min) renditions of the C sharp minor prelude (Op. 3/2). It works remarkably fine indeed, as Weissenberg combines drama and lyricism in a most spectacular manner. His highly uncompromising, not to say savage, approach to the keyboard yields rather fascinating results in some of the most vigorous preludes, most notably in Op. 23/7, Op. 32/6, Op. 32/8 and, above all, in Op. 32/4 whose sweeping climax is brilliantly done. Also impressive is Op. 23/3 which taken at such breakneck tempo acquires a curious streak of mockery and burlesque, reminding us that the generally dour and brooding Rachmaninoff actually had a fine sense of humour. However, even in those cases Alexis' performance is often marred by sloppiness, as in the cases of Op. 23/2 and Op. 23/5 where charming and exciting moments go hand in hand with perfunctory and indifferent ones. Alexis is surprisingly convincing in the mighty Op. 32/10 but he manages to ruin almost completely the equally majestic Op. 32/13 by rushing and banging through it without any regard for the music.

In the lyrical preludes Alexis is the same very mixed bag. For instance, Op. 32/5 clearly shows that when he wants he can play with tenderness and sensitivity, being original not at the expense of the music and also standing comparison with Horowitz and Rachmaninoff themselves outstandingly well. There is also much refreshing charm in Op. 23/4 or Op. 32/7, although their ethereal quality is largely, if not entirely, lost. Pretty much the same is true of Op. 23/1 and Op. 23/10, another pair of preludes that are among Rachmaninoff's most delicate and intimate pieces. While listening to these pieces I often have the disconcerting sensation that this music was composed for the heavens but Alexis has knocked it down and it has fallen down to earth.

The sound is decent and quite listenable for recordings made in 1968-69, but it is in no way exceptional, even for its time. It is often brittle and harsh, RCA's trademarks actually, and the piano seldom has anything like fine sonority. Interestingly, the rough nature of the sound closely resembles the playing.

All in all, I can't think of a single prelude that I would prefer in Weissenberg's interpretation over any other, including his fine C sharp minor one. I can listen to almost all of them with interest, and to some even with pleasure, but on the whole the set is absolutely no match for Ashkenazy's equally impressive technique but much, much more sensitive musicianship; the same goes for Lugansky in the first 11 preludes. As for individual preludes played by artists of much greater individuality, such as Horowitz or Rachmaninoff for instance, everything Alexis has to offer falls rather short, if not originality-wise, musically at all events. I am not even sure that Weissenberg's recording is a good introduction to this music, for it often takes liberties that verge on grotesque. I can't say that I find his wild eccentricity more convincing than Marietta Petkova's rather ordinary but much more musical approach. She is full ten minutes slower, in toto, and Alexis would have been wise to slow down too.

Complete recordings of Rachmaninoff's preludes being a rarity, this one is certainly worth having as a kind of curiosity. It might reward an occasional listening. Or it might not.

This release has garnered a lot of praise from various quarters, but seems to have divided opinion to a certain extent as well. And while I certainly admire many of Weissenberg's choices and much of his playing, I have some qualms about this recording as well. The playing is thoroughly romantic and sweeping, often impulsive and apparently paying more attention to the overall effect of the individual pieces than their parts. Curiously, and despite Weissenberg's generally romantic, brawny approach the overall effect strikes me as actually lacking a little in drama and fierceness. I cannot avoid feeling that there is a certain sameness to his approach to the preludes that dulls the overall effect and makes other, less heavily romantic approaches to the individual pieces create more powerful overall effects. Perhaps the most precise way of putting my concern would be that Weissenberg does not really pay attention to textures as much as overall ideas (for individual pieces), which is particularly problematic in the more intimate pieces and the pieces that call for lightness of touch. Still there are many very good things here, and some of the more powerful pieces are truly magnificent in his hands. I also like his choices of tempi - often on the fast side of the metronome markings, and the disc is overall a fine addition to the catalogue. I do not think anyone would go seriously wrong with this one, nether as an introduction to the repertoire or as complementary to other recordings by other pianists. The sound is decent but not really much more, lacking in both warmth and clarity.

Technically speaking, Weissenberg does a good job. But the way he plays Rachmaninoff's preludes is rather embarassing. Look at the music, for instance, and you'll see plenty of instances where Weissenberg ignores what Rachmaninoff wrote. This simply isn't fair.