Customer Reviews

Rachmaninov - Piano Concertos Nos. 2&3 - Acoustic Reality Experience [HD DVD]

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

 

 

I would have only given this 1 star, but the music is great and sounds quite good in surround, though by no means spectacular. That said, I was expecting to get a hidef trip to the symphony, *NOT* a cheesy, corny slide show of ocean splash and hazy harbors!?! I couldn't believe it when I put it on! I thought it was just the title splash screen (no pun intended), but nope, this is it! The venue would have been beautiful to film in hidef and this is what I was expecting. And the price!? I was so angry I couldn't even enjoy the music. DO NOT buy this very deceptively packaged product. For the money, you can get a used, 1980's era DG recording for <$5 that will sound just as good and play on all your gear; not just an HD player.

The graphics promoting this release clearly showed a orchestra on the cover. When I received the album the front cover art was of a seascape. If you think your going to see an actual performance of Rachmaninov's 2 greatest piano concerto's you will be, as I was, sorely disappointed. This is a reissue of an earlier Naxos release. The soloist, Konstantin Scherbakov, is superb but the Russian State Symphony Orchestra is simply not up to the task. This performance was released by Naxos in a 2 channel and a DVD-A mix, where Surround Records got a 7.1 mix out of the original masters is, well, a stretch. There are many, many great recordings of these works that you can get for less money. Might be a nice demo for a hdtv show room but not much else.

Like some others, I was expecting a high-def concert, with the soloist and orchestra featured in the video. To my surprise, I got what amounts to a cd with still landscape photos. Furthermore, my rather sophisticated sound system has so far only been able to elicit 2-channel stereo out of this disc. I already had half a dozen versions of Rachmaninov's Piano Concertos 2&3, and didn't need another. Likely my Vivaldi purchase will be the same. The product description should be up-front about the nature of this "HD DVD", which is little more than a cd.

Oh yes... you WILL be moved by this piece of music and the recording itself. The second movement of the second piano concerto is perhaps my all time most favorite piece of auditory emotional expression I have ever experienced. I have literally cried tears upon listening to this awesome piece.... and this recording is simply as good as it gets. Period. If you love classical music, have a beating heart, and are moved by the emotion of music, this is simply a MUST HAVE ITEM.

Well, I guess you must have a good surround sound set up to rate this highly. I do not have surround sound so, the music was not so great. Plus, you have no ability to select any of the music, the only selection is for the visuals. If I only want audio, then I get a CD. CD recordings I have of Rachmaninov sound much better to me than this. The visuals are very, very disappointing - just static low resolution pictures of shore and water.