Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2

Serge Rachmaninov (Composer), Vladimir Ashkenazy (Conductor), Philharmonia Orchestra (Orchestra), Helene Grimaud (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Helene Grimaud
• Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra
• Conductor: Vladimir Ashkenazy
• Composer: Serge Rachmaninov
• Audio CD (May 15, 2001)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Teldec
• ASIN: B000058BAY
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #142,268 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #54 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Modern, 20th, & 21st Century > Instruments > Keyboard > Piano

Track Listings

1. Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18: No. 1, Moderato

2. Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18: No. 2, Adagio sostenuto

3. Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18: No. 3, Allegro scherzando

4. Prelude for piano No.23 in G sharp minor, Op. 32/12

5. Etudes-Tableaux, for piano, Op. 33: 1, Allegro non troppo in F minor

6. Etudes-Tableaux, for piano, Op. 33: 2, Allegro in C major

7. Etudes-Tableaux, for piano, Op. 33: 9, Grave in C sharp minor

8. Variations on a Theme of Corelli, for piano, Op. 42

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing and Interesting!, May 15, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Audio CD)

Some of the greatest pianists of the 20th century have given us stand-out recordings of Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto. That stellar group must include Artur Rubinstein and Van Cliburn, who each offered rousing performances with Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Sviatoslav Richter's 1959 recording with Stanislaw Wislocki and the Warsaw Philharmonic remains powerful, commanding, and, for some, definitive. Outside this group, many recordings have a certain tedious familiarity, but I have to disagree with Dan Davis, who puts this effort by Helene Grimaud and Vladimir Ashkenazy in the mass of undistinguished or "pedestrian" recordings. The key to the great recordings seems to be the ability of pianists like Rubinstein, Cliburn, or Richter to stand up against Rachmaninov's magnificent orchestral score, one that has overpowered the playing of many others including Evgeny Kissin, Gary Graffman, and Earl Wild. Rather than competing on that level, Grimaud and Ashkenazy take a radically different hold on the concerto, one that is fresh, interesting, and substantially different from Grimaud's first recording in 1993. Ashkenazy's "fussy conducting" in fact contains the orchestra and allows Grimaud the dominant voice in the concerto. Grimaud responds with a breathtaking but subtle performance, combining lyrical beauty, sensitivity, and remarkable clarity. In the notes to the CD, Grimaud speaks of the "different kind of freedom" possible in working with a conductor who is an accomplished pianist and it certainly shows in this recording. Given the choice of only one version, I would still choose Richter's 1959 recording - fortunately, I don't have to make that choice. Anyone who has grown weary of "samey" recordings should enjoy this refreshing interpretation by Grimaud and Ashkenazy.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Among Grimaud's Finest Concerti Recordings, June 16, 2001

By 

John Kwok (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Audio CD)

I wasn't certain why Grimaud chose to record again Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto, since her earlier recording with Lopez-Cobos conducting the Royal Philharmonic is still in print. Yet I was truly amazed with her latest release. Unlike Richter and others who have emphasized the dramatic qualities of Rachmaninov's score, here she opts for a more subtle, lyrical approach; contrary to what reviewer wrote, she succeeds admirably. Ashkenazy's "fussy" conducting and the Philharmonia's magnificient playing yields an orchestral performance that is definitely better than the Royal Philharmonic's. Indeed, I agree with a previous reviewer who notes how Ashkenazy's conducting ensures that Grimaud is the star of this performance. Her playing of Rachmaninov's solo piano pieces is as subtle and lyrical as her performance of the concerto; of these undoubtedly the best is the Corelli Variations. Hopefully Ms. Grimaud will soon commence recording the rest of Beethoven's, Brahms' and Rachmanionv's concerti.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars **** 1/2 For her, Grimaud is a bit subdued, but there's charisma anyway, September 5, 2011

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Audio CD)

Because it reaches for excesses of gloom and lusciousness, the Rachmaninov Second is hard to ruin; it resists parody by going so far beyond parody itself. Richter made a classic recording in 1959 by approaching the score with sobriety, even somberness, backed up with enormous keyboard authority. In recent years a few pianists and conductors have tried to reduce the sugar content and deliver a leaner reading - I'm thinking lately of Simon Trpceski and Vasily Petrenko, who risk that elegance can substitute for vulgar sentiment. But why mess around wit a monument to sentiment like this one?

Grimaud hasn't been terribly fortunate with the conductors provided by Teldec (Sanderling, Masur, Ashkenazy), who invariably lack her volatile originality. That's true in spades here. Ashkenazy provides a blowsy accompaniment whose expressive gestures are laid on with a trowel - note the huge ritard near the coda of the first movement. But then he turns around and underplays the famous tune in the third movement, for no apparent reason. Grimaud is also not allowed much spontaneity or flashes of brilliance. If you have the technique, the score all but plays itself. I think I fall in line with reviewers who feel that she is too restrained, but that's not to gainsay Grimaud's musicality and her ability to sustain the long line. Like Trpceski, she seems to see the orchestra as equal partner, not simply wallpaper in front of which dazzling keyboard effects are displayed. She adds a note of delicacy in the fleet passagework of the finale that's very appealing where others stab at the keyboard with daggers.

As is usual with her programming on disc, Grimaud offers solo pieces as fillers. After four miniatures - one Prelude and three Etudes-Tableaux, the substantial Corelli Variations finish up. I'll confess to having a limited appetite for Rachmaninov's piano music. To my ear, she sounds splendid in every piece, always holding one's attention with urgency and feeling. Like Vladimir Horowitz,another highly stylized, charismatic performer, Grimaud imposes herself on these pieces, and if that imposition thrills you, as millions were thrilled by Horowitz, thee can be few complaints about failing to give a sober account of the score.