Customer Reviews

Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I have read all of the negative and luke warm comments here. All I can say is I have heard several of the aforementioned interpretations of Rach 2 and I found this one to be one of the most "exciting" and musically interesting. I have listened to this CD easily over 50 times in my car and at home. I love it! I love it even more today than I did when I first heard it. This "test of time" is my ultimate litmus test for a classical music CD.

Grimaud has a distinctive musical sensibility. At times she plays very bold, she conjures an image of a large Russian man. But she can also display the sensitivity of a small, sensitive, French woman, which she is. All I can say to the reviewers who critiqued this CD negatively is that to me, Grimaud communicates an "organic" excitement in her interpretation and performance that has made it one of my all time favorites! I highly recommend it!

I was fortunate to hear Helene Grimaud play the Rach #2 live with the Philadelphia Orchestra this summer, which is why I bought this CD. I have to say that the live performance was a bit better than this recording. I think of this piece as a complement to both the piano and the Orchestra, and I didn't get the feeling that it was showcasing both, rather more the piano. Grimaud does pull out nuances that I haven't heard before, and she does a fine job of making the piece interesting. She does a marvelous job of the first movement. I wanted to hear more tenderness in the second. The third was spectacluar piano playing, but the balance between the piano and the orchestra needs some attention - a little heavy on the piano in the last part of the third (you know the part, when the orchestra has the melody and the piano is chording away). I think the technical aspects hold this recording back. I hear too much noise in the background, and, again, the balance between the orchestra and the piano isn't what it should be. But the performer is very accomplished, and I don't want to give the impression that she isn't worth the buy. Just be aware that there are better recorded versions. FYI, check out Cecile Licad's version with Claudio Abbado and the Chicago Symphony. A real Tour de Force, with marvelous balance between the Orchestra and the Piano.

This disc of all Rachmaninov by Helene Grimaud splits just about evenly into two halves - the first devoted to the Second Piano Concerto and the rest to solo pieces.

Orchestra, at its first entrance starting the main theme of the first movement, sounds recessed - corrected by the end of the first long phrase or so. The Philharmonia, under Ashkenazy, once clearly heard, reveals an orchstra that has maintained its depth over a good number of years. Transitions during the Exposition section to follow appear unduly choppy. Grimaud, while revealing secure technique and decent feel for the idiom, has a habit of surging forward with the line here a couple of times, and also at the beginning of the cadenza in the Adagio sostenuto, regardless of what may follow. The piano, again, is somehow brought forward very quickly and briefly by the mikes for the last chord or two of a big stretto before the introduction of the second theme, and similar happens a couple of other times during this movement. Most of the remainder of the first movement, with fine sound quality when not tweaked with, goes by very well, if only conventionally so.

The Adagio is played in a much-to-be-expected subdued manner, with a good feeling for color from both orchestra and soloist and the right amount of sweep to the coda section. The finale starts off in fine well-sprung rhythm from the orchestra and bravura from the soloist, but come the Development section, Grimaud, who has somewhat mechanically played the trills at the quiet close of the Exposition, charging forward, clips, or enters the Development section a good half a beat early. Ensemble problems plague several tricky moments throughout. The affirmative, yet very loud tutti by the orchestra at the end of this section seems unnaturally abetted by one or two folks at the control board. The return of the romantic second theme is again handled conventionally, but possibly for bravura effect, scherzando triplets get clipped, especially insipid when doubled by flutes, yet only a momentary distraction up to the final, climactic passages to both the finale and the entire concerto, the big theme within rendered in its usual byzantine gold and bronze.

The G-Sharp Minor prelude from the close of the opus 32 collection of twelve, serves as segue between concerto and several of the opus 33 etudes-tableaux and Corelli Varations to follow. The feeling for atmosphere and color is fine for the prelude, but Grimaud's playing gets a bit weighed down by chronic anticipation of the downbeat, and other minute hesitations along the same lines - device used again to heigthen the dramatic effect of strings of repeated chords in the closing C-sharp Minor etude-tableaux from Opus 33, but undercut by heavy chords, for all the aggressive handling of them, are not heard in their full weight or resonance. Such feeling for chords and octaves crudely interrupts the plaintive trio section of the first etude-tableaux, which closes with light tolling of bells in the upper right hand. Grimaud's gilding of this passage, which negates its intended effect, is ironically a lesson in more-is-less, less-is-more. The second etude-tableaux on the disc has the right feeling for the lyric line, but pushed a little too hard in the accompaniment to be allowed its full flower.

Grimaud's playing for most of the solo pieces, and especially the Corelli Variations reveals more of her true personality than her playing in the concerto. Her anti-romantic sensibilities, turned mystic and postmodern by now to remain in step with current fashion, among the current echelon of pianists championing the heavily tried and true Romantic repertoire, come quickly to the fore.

Feeling for pulsation, line (especially in the slow, reflective D-Flat Major variations and intermezzo that precedes them) and color is weak in the Corelli Variations. The austerity and even strangeness of this music is made more remarkable from the pianist who inculcates inner contrast between the recidivist qualities (even if drained of life) of this music and modernist, instead of bleaching out so much of this contrast. Grimaud takes the modernism of the piece doctrinaire and as entirely her calling card, making her interpretation of the variations heavily two-dimensional. Even heavy chords are frequently shortened of their full note value and played in strict rhythm, regardless of harmonic change through them or underneath.

Again, the qualities that I rue about this kind of playing should not disappoint Grimaud fans, and even the slightly higher endorsement I make of this disc may be so much so at the outset to worry a few. Outside of those people, the combination of popular concerto and thirty-minute sampling of solo repertoire will seem cumbersome to the average collector. Those who have Ashkenazy, with Kondrashin for the Second or Haitink for the set of four, for the concerti, or for solo repertoire (etudes, variations especially fine), are in good hands.

The cover on this CD looks nice. Grimaud looks gorgeous, but the playing on this CD falls short of my expectations. I thought Grimaud was a great player because of all the favorable reviews I read about her concerning Brahms. I just love her Brahms interpretations. However, this CD falls short for two reasons: the dynamics are sometimes reversed (loud when it should be soft), and the playing is too nauseus in some places.
From a technical perspective, the recording is not perfect, which is surprising given all the technology out there to re-record and edit things. I concur with some of the other observations of other musicians that there is some eyebrow raising breathing going on. I don't know what's all about, but it ruined the musical experience.
That said, Grimaud is still a great pianist.

Helene Grimaud's rendition of Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.2 displays a new possibilty in interpreting this work. She plays it with female sensations that are not typical in the interpretations of this work. What I also feel is that this rendition is very French~. Particularly the first movement, the depression and the emotion and mental conflicts are lessened by her "chanson" style of playing, so to speak. But I don't mean it's not good because this seemingly unsuitable way of playing indeed makes this work VERY impassioned. However, my major disappointment comes when Grimaud plays the end of the 2nd movment, which is also the climax. Let me explain the reason a little bit. The 2nd movement represents Rachmaninoff's recovery from his mental breakdown. This particular movement is tranquil, which in a way shows that the composer's psyche is in a peaceful and relatively stable stage. However, his emotion is somewhat repressed from eruption. Many times, the emotion in this mvt. is on the verge of erupting but, nevertheless, is repressed. The ending of this mvt. should be the summation of the all the emotions and sensations of the 2nd mvt that have been repressed (probably also the 1st), and this summation directly leads to the thundering 3rd mvt. So playing this passage requires a pianist to use stronger strength, which Grimaud doesn't have. And in this passage, she uses the same "Chanson" style to play. Among all the recordings of RACH 2, I think Weissenberg's DIVINE playing is my all time favorite, and Richter's rendition is surperb too. However the former one is very rare, and you may hardly find it in store.
All in all, I give Grimaud's recording 4 stars. This is a fine recording.

This CD is a major disappointment. I would strongly advise not buying it and getting Grimaud's Brahms instead. Grimaud is known for the Brahms but the Rachmaninov CD in particular demonstrates that her playing is having trouble expanding out into different and diverse repertoire. There is heavy groaning in the background if you listen carefully during the performance, and it sounds like someone is reading off pages of music (you can hear pages turning). In order to give the best performance possible, it needs to be memorized. That way, you're focused on not reading the music but playing it with emotion and interpreting it. This CD is a disappointment given Grimaud's Brahms reputation. I wish I had not purchased this CD.

Helene Grimaud is an absolutely sensational artist. Never before have I found such a sensitive, intimate, and passionate performance recorded on CD. When I heard this CD I bought it immediately. It pairs Rachmaninoff's Second Concerto (which is enough of a reason to buy it in the first place) with a wonderful pianist. The concerto marks a passionate comeback in Rachmaninoff's creative output. After having the premiere of his Symphony ruined by the Drunken Glazunov who conducted it, Rachmaninoff slipped into a deep depression and was unable to compose for quite some time. After seeking therapy through hypnosis Rachmaninoff was finally able to write again. And thus, the Second Concerto was created and has won the hearts of the world over. Ms. Grimaud does a spectacular job in re-creating the passion that burns so strongly in this concerto. Also featured on this disc is the prelude in G#minor, several Etudes from Op.33, and the Corelli Variations. If you haven't heard these works or if you haven't heard Helene Grimaud then you must buy this CD.