Customer Reviews

Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3

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

 

 

Who says Rachmaninov's music is shallow and too sentimental? Blasphemy!! Maybe some over-indulgent performances by naive pianists give that impression, but on this recording, with the composer himself at the keyboard (and he was one of the greatest of all pianists) there isn't the faintest suggestion of sappyness anywhere. Sure, there's passion in his "interpretation" (if you can call it that) but he lets his passion flow through the music, not overwhelm it.

Of course, the audiophile types who love glitz and glitter won't be pleased by the prehistoric recordings, but I say, great musicianship over great technology!! Don't miss out on this just because of the sound quality. It's a five-star performance if I ever heard one.

I'd suggest getting, along with this, the companion disc, featuring the (undeservedly) less well known 1st and 4th concertos and the Paganini rhapsody

There is no better recording of the No. 2 concerto. Stokowski and the Philadelphia players are inspired; and the beauty, dynamic range (even on this vintage recording), and technical command of the composer's handiwork are unapproachably sublime. This is one of the great recordings of all time.

During winter, we here in New England, sometimes get a taste of Russian weather (cold and snow). It is at hese times when I think it is most appropriate to pull out my collection of Russian music: mainly Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, Liadov and Shostakovich. Rachmaninoff's Second and Third Piano Concertos are most appropriate for bringing forth a good, brooding, Russian winter mood.

Though the Second Concerto is the most popular (even finding its way into American movie sound tracks and popular songs); I always liked the Third one better: I find it to be more mysterious and darker in emotional quality. In Rachmaninoff, as in Tchaikovsky, you seem to get the over-arching feel of the suffering of the Russian people.

I bought this CD specifically to hear Rachmaninoff himself at the piano. Though these recordings are very old and of poor quality by today's standards, Rachmaninoff's aura was such that, while listening, I eventually forgot about the "tinny" filter and the background noise. Rachmaninoff sounded just as I expected: grand, brooding, severe, sometimes glimmering, but more a craftsman than a Romantic.

Comparisons for Concerto #2: Askanazy/Kondrashin/Moscow Phil.; Graffman/Bernstein/NYPO; Richter/Warsaw Phil Orch

Comparisons for Concerto #3: Horowitz/Ormandy/NYPO; Horowitz/Reiner/RCA Orch.

..until you hear this.

It's like the first time I heard Heifetz playing Brahms' violin concerto on the RCA recording - the flow, the speed, the unimaginable sense of freedom lacking in violinists/ pianists after the Heifetz/ Rachmaninov generation. Somehow musicians after that era began to grow "slow fingers" and shallow spirituality and it became unknown to listeners how music used to sound so free - well, they couldn't have known. We couldn't have known.

Until recordings like this came along.

So, if you're curious in even the slightest sense and think you can listen beyond the mono sound (which sounds blurred and overloaded with hisses compared to modern stereo recordings), you owe yourself a chance to discover what music making had been and gain a "new pair of ears".

It's a pity for those who can't tolerate anything other than "audiophile" sound.

I am really glad that I purchased both CDs (Piano Concerto No.1 & No.4 etc., Piano Concerto No.2 & No.3). I do have ones played by Rubinstein, but still, these two CDs are very special. The music is alive, and the hissing makes the music so real that sometimes I appreciate those 'noises'.

Music is different than most art forms that both composition and performance are vital to the creation of the final product. Listen to the composer himself to play the music is always a nice experience, no to speak Rachmaninov himself was a great pianist.

I don't particularly like the way Rachmaninoff plays these pieces. He seems to play a little too mechanically for my tastes. It just sounds like he's simply playing the notes alot of the time. I don't think that these piano concertos should be overly-phrased and made more gushy and sentimental than they are, but there has to be something in the middle. However, some of the expressiveness may be lost by the bad recording quality.

I also disagree with the assertion that a composer is automatically the supreme interpreter of his/her own works. As a composer/performer (I realize that I'm not even on the same plane as a composer like Rachmaninoff, but I think I can draw some parallels from my own experiences), I have written works which I have performed and which have been performed by others. When having my pieces played by others, I usually just give them the music and let them play it however they want. This often leads to relevations about the music I have written. For example, a player may phrase or emphasize something completely differently than I would have, and it can be great to discover things in your own works that you never even considered possible! Additionally, I think as composers, we can sometimes view our compositions in an overly structural way (not seeing the forest for the trees sometimes). Sorry if I'm off track, but my point is that, as I said, I don't think that it is wise to automatically assume that a composer plays their own pieces better than anyone else does...

That being said, this isn't a bad recording at all. His playing is technically very good, and even if the composer isn't the supreme interpreter, it's still very interesting to hear their take on their own creations (which is almost always different than anyone elses). I agree that the cuts in the 3rd concerto are somewhat annoying, and in the first movement he opts to play the "easy" version of the cadenza (there are two versions in the music, the more difficult of which is, in my opinion, far better and more effective). I believe that in the CD booklet it said that later in life, Rachmaninoff felt that some of his writing was long-winded and as he began favoring economy, he made cuts in some of his pieces (this is perhaps an example of his overly focusing on structural aspects and not seeing the big picture - I can't imagine anyone agreeing that the revised, cut version he plays on this disc is better than the original).

Anyway, this is a worthwhile disc from both a musical and historical perspective. From a purely listening standpoint, however, I would opt for Bronfman's version of these two pieces (which also cost about 7 bucks). Of course, at this price, why not get both and decide for yourself?? Enjoy