Customer Reviews

Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3/ Solo Piano Works

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am frankly, flabbergasted as to the negative criticisms of this recording! It is simply, sonically AND artistically the best performance of this concerto on the market today. It's better than the Weissenberg/Pretre version. It's better than Argerich! Yes, it's even better than Horowitz himself! It's simply astonishing. I have over 50 recordings of this piece and this one surpasses them all. I have recently listened to every one of the recordings I have, and none even come close. The sound is fantastic. The playing sublime.

Volodos plays the entire work without any cuts for starters unlike the Horowitz, Janis, Wild, Watts and Rachmaninoff, himself, versions and connects the whole thing together structurally tight as a drum. Volodos plays the heavier cadenza in the first movement, and quite simply, gives the most stunning performance of it I've ever heard. The only person who comes close is Cliburn's legendary 1959 recording, but the sound isn't as good, obviously, and Cliburn doesn't have Volodos' sense of spine-tingling drama and excitement (though, I'd have to say Cliburn's rendition is not far behind).

Volodos' playing of the 2nd movement is beautiful beyond compare. He takes the 3rd movement at a breakneck speed and one can hear just about every note, unlike many performances (Argerich's for one) where half the notes on the piano aren't even audible. Argerich's performance, while fantastic, is simply not as well thought out, technically as perfect, nor as carefully prepared as Volodos'.

Levine and the Berlin Philharmonic are excellent and the sound quality is the best I've ever heard on a live recording. I would be interested to know how much touch-up work was done on it if any. The piano can be heard properly at all times unlike many newer Rach 3rds that try to "integrate" the orchestral and piano parts so it sounds like a symphony, which it is NOT. IT'S A PIANO CONCERTO and the piano needs to be heard almost all the time as the most prominent player; and this recording fills the bill most expertly.

Bravo to the Sony engineers for doing such a fantastic job; bravo to James Levine and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for such beautiful accompaniment; and, finally, kudos and bravissimo to Volodos. Quite simply one of the greatest pianists of his generation in my opinion.

This new recording of the Rachmaninoff 3rd Piano Concerto is one of the finest ever made. The performances of Volodos and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra are scintillating. Unlike the Horowitz/Ormandy recording where Horowitz and Ormandy start out together, go their own ways, and return together at the end, Volodos and Levine are in sync throughout the concerto. Volodos performs the broader cadenza in the 1st movement which is much more difficult and more sweeping than the first one. Horowitz would not perform this cadenza feeling it distracted from the climax in the 3rd movement. I never agreed with Horowitz on this and much prefer this gigantic cadenza. Volodos' performance of the cadenza, and the whole concerto for that matter, is simply awesome. The recorded sound is very good for a live recording.

The Volodos transcription of the Andante from the Sonata for Cello and Piano in G minor, Opus 19 is beyond description. It is one of the finest piano pieces I have ever heard.

Overall, this is a wonderful Rachmaninoff disc with first-rate performances. The 3rd Piano Concerto may very well become the standard by which other performances will be compared. I highly recommend this recording to any lover of great piano music.

Few pianists have the sheer power of sound, dexterity, and brilliance of interpretation of Arcadi Volodos. This collaboration (and it is definitely that) with James Levine and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra results in the most perfect Rachmaninoff Third Piano Concerto on records. The pianist is a Romantic Poet who pays heed to all the pathos and melancholy hidden beneath the surface of this relentlessly testing concerto while pulling from the keyboard all the fire and dazzling virutosity inherent in this piece. Levine is at one with Volodos and when they are tutti the effect is nearly unbearably beautiful. And as if the performance of the concerto weren't enough, Vlodos comes back for encores that include samples of the Preludes, the Morceaux de salon, and a wondrous piano transcription of a Rachmaninoff work for cello and piano. The quality of production of this live performance is so well engineered that you would swear you were hearing the 'perfect studio recording'. But then that luminous quality of listening to music in the hall with the electricity of a nonstop performance makes the concerto truly sing. No matter how many recordings you may have of this oft recorded concerto, you will find much new and revealing here! Highly Recommended!

I consider the Rach Third Piano Concerto to be my favorite romantic concerto. I have heard many recordings of this piece, including the Horowitz version with Philiadelphia Orch, and the video with Zubin Mehta. Volodos's command of the piece is Astonishing to say the least. I feel Volodos pulls off every facet needed to play this great piece. He has the virtoustic power of Horowitz and the needed sensitivity to bring out the concerto's darker and more expressive sides.
All in all a truely fantastic recording worthy of all praise.

Volodos can only be described as a true wonder. After seeing him perform at Emory University I believed that his recordings of Rachmaninoff would hit the music world like a bombshell; I was wrong. He has scarcely gotten as much attention as Kissen, who has only a fraction of Volodos's talent. This recording far surpasses Argerich's performance and comes very close to Horowitz's legendary recordings. He has perhaps the finest maturity and poise of any living pianist today and could easily take the throne as the greatest living pianist. This Rachmaninoff recording has so much depth that it gives the expert listener a new perspective on the true emotion of the piece. The cadenza in the first movement is a fair match for Horowitz and light years away in emotional content. Horowitz believed the alternate version to be too bombastic and climatic, so he played the sherzo-like version instead. But Volodos gives this powerful cadenza a fresh new meaning that is dark, thunderous, and rich in the true integrity of the piece. The other pieces featured on this album are incredible. Hopefully Volodos will make more Liszt and Rachmaninoff recordings, for these seem to be his greatest realm of pianistic domination.

It is remarkable that the most effective romantic piano concerto was not written at the time of Chopin and Liszt, but rather during the first decade of the twentieth century. The consensus view is that Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto provides the most spectacular showcase in existence for a pianist's talents.

This performance by Volodos lives up to its reputation as one of the best performances ever of this masterpiece. In many ways it surpasses the legendary performances of Horowitz. The listener cannot help but be enthralled with the perfect control, the apparent ease with which the most difficult passages, containing infinitely many notes, are presented. In comparison with Horowitz, one never gets the impression that Volodos might be showing off---even the unbelievably rapid filigrees in the middle of the third movement sound appropriate to the artist's conception.

If there is one defect to this recording, it is that sometimes the volume of the orchestra seems deafening. I've heard at least a half dozen performances of this work, by Cliburn, Bolet and others, but none of them is better.

Volodos is threatening to become one of the biggest pianistic superstars before the public today. His huge technique has drawn comparisons with Horowitz and his performances have garnered rave reviews from most of the critics. His performance of the Rachmaninoff Three just about lives up to the hype. Here we have a performance which combines extraordinary pianistic virtuosity with a ravishing poetic sensitivity. Volodos' interpretation may be the best since Horowitz's Ormandy performance 25 years ago. It is certainly the best performance recorded in the digital era.

I still regard the Horowitz/Reiner performance as the greatest ever. Horowitz' finger busting interpretation has to be heard to be believed. But Volodos is an excellent choice for those eager for digital sound. Even better, he plays the version with the longer, more difficult cadenza in the first movement. Of recordings using this cadenza, Volodos goes to the top of the list.

Along with Marc-Andre Hamelin, Volodos has to be regarded as greatest big technique piano virtuoso before the public today. Highly recommended.

I couldn't disagree more with the other two reviewers. This IS the best. I just listened to Horowitz and Volodos back-to-back, and to make sure, I listened to both third movements again. The Horowitz is muddy and passionless next to the Volodos. Also the sound quality is at least twice as good on the Volodos version. Surely the other listeners have not really compared the two.

I bought this after hearing the rave reviews and have to admit that I'm a little disappointed. The performance is very exciting and his playing is sensational throughout. However, if you're looking for a sensitive and lyrical account of the slower, more beautiful and melancholic moments, they're sadly absent, even more so than in Lang Lang's recent recording. But this is nonetheless a tauter recording than the latter's. Kissin tried to avoid this kind of showy approach, but despite elegantly slower tempi, did not quite come across convincingly. And Berezovsky ruined his early recording by playing the last movement with cuts.

Volodos plays the larger cadenza, which I love. I disagree with Horowitz's view that it unbalances the piece. It is really an integral part of the recapitulation which the short cadenza fails to satisfy as such. The playing itself is virtuosic rather than profound.

As a whole, the profound sadness of this concerto is glossed over for its more brilliant side, in this recording. I've not heard the definitive performances yet of this work (trying to get the Gavrilov and the Weissenberg). But the closest I know are the Horowitz and Argerich (both playing the short cadenza)on one hand, and Ashkenazy's on the other if you like to dwell on the more introspective side of the work. Of course there's always Rachmaninov's vintage performance albeit with the short cadenza to allow him to fit it into the old 78 rpms, if you can tolerate the sound quality. But you might still like Volodos, like the others below! It really depends on your taste.

This is a beautiful performance of the Rachmaninoff Third, well thought out, finely crafted, lovingly realized. I had not heard the young Russian pianist Volodos before, and I put on this CD with some trepidation, thinking, "Oh boy, here goes another young firebrand virtuoso, trying to out-Horowitz Horowitz, out to razzle-dazzle us into submission with his virtuosity." But that's not what we get here at all. Volodos plays with admirable taste, restraint, and lyricism, with poetry and sensitivity, phrases beautifully and plays with handsome, singing tone (he never pounds or bangs). He has technique to burn and his fingers fly as fleetly as anyone's, but his virtuosity is everywhere at the service of the music (not the other way around, as was so often the case with Horowitz). (My only quibble, and it is a minor one, is that he sometimes uses more pedal than I would like.) His goal is to offer the most beautiful performance possible of the concerto, to perform the music to the music's utmost advantage, and not to show off his own big technique. He plays with remarkable maturity for so young a pianist (he was 27 when the recording was made). Clearly a young man to watch.

For their part Levine and the Berlin Philharmonic provide warm, finely gauged, fully sympathetic support--support really isn't the right word here, for a work that has been aptly described as a "piano symphony." The live performance (from the Berlin Philharmonie, June 1999) is captured in fine sound, with the balances well judged: the piano is not unduly prominent, but is well integrated into the fabric of the orchestra. You are unaware there is an audience until the well-deserved spontaneous ovation erupts at the end. A lovely performance. If it never achieves, for example, quite the heroic liftoff of the famous Cliburn/Kondrashin 1958 live performance in Carnegie Hall, it has compensating beauties of its own (including better sound). Those who view this concerto as a vehicle for fire-breathing virtuoso display are advised to look elsewhere.

The CD is filled out (total timing 61:02) with six short Rachmaninoff pieces, studio recordings (made in Berlin in Jan. 2000). These pieces are pleasant without being of any great substance. I found Volodos's own transcription of an andante movement from a cello/piano sonata the most attractive of the lot. Again, Volodos's singing tone and warmly affectionate playing emphasize lyricism more than fire (and again, he sometimes plays with more pedal than I like). Strongly recommended.