Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 4

Sergey Rachmaninov (Composer), Bernard Haitink (Conductor), Royal Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra (Orchestra), Vladimir Ashkenazy (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy
• Orchestra: Royal Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra
• Conductor: Bernard Haitink
• Composer: Sergey Rachmaninov
• Audio CD (February 17, 1986)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B0000041QE
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #73,306 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deep interpretation, April 18, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 4 (Audio CD)

The most deepest interpretation of this beautiful C minor concerto. Warm sound. The interpretation if full of energy and passion. One of my favourites records ever purchased.

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb!, January 26, 2011

By 

Avery Gordon "muse77" (Houston, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 4 (Audio CD)

Outside of hearing Rachmaninoff play his own work, this recording is the best I've heard. The piano and orchestra (and conductor) are perfectly balanced in this great recording.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must have Best of the Best, February 3, 2011

By 

Judy Spotheim "SpJ Judy" (Belgium, Europe) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 4 (Audio CD)

This recording of Rachmaninov's 2nd concerto, played by Ashkenazy/Haitink, is nimbly paced and beautifully played, IT DOES NOT lacks any intensity and if far, far better affair than previous recordings with Kondrashin (which is almost coming to a halt with those stretched temi and recorded-wise muffled passages) and it surpasses the one with Previn, particularly in the outer movements.

The 4th concerto, proves to be a great performance, played with the wonderful rapport between the pianist and Haitink/RCO, bringing out the deep lyricism of the music like no other recordings.

The recording itself (DDD) is crisp, clear, dynamic, and has the blend between the orchestra an the soloist while retaining the orchestral colors and details even at tutti forte-forte passages thanks to cleaver engineering (and the acoustic of the Concertgebouw Amsterdam is maintained - as a bonus).
It is a highly recommended modern Rachmaninoff's second and fourth piano concertos recording and it surpasses all what Ashkenazy did previously (Rachmaninoff/concerti) before.