Customer Reviews

Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2; Vocalise

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

 

 

I have about 30 Super Audio CDs and right now, this is my favorite. Partly because I think Rachmaninovs 2nd Symphony is the the most pleasurable symphony ever written, but also because of the playing and the sound quality. I've listened to the Askenazy/Concertgebouw version from the early 80s dozens of times. (I even heard him perform it with the Royal Philharmonic in Atlanta in the 80s), and the Askenazy version is very forceful and driving, but the sound is not as clear, as you might expect. I like to put on my fairly expensive Sennheiser headphones, turn off the furnace fan, and really listen. This version is recorded with the speakers in the front-middle of the orchestra where the conductor stands. None of this "narrow stage" stuff. This is close-up. The individual strings and groups of strings shimmer and tickle around you with amazing resolution (with headphones) especially if you bump the treble a little. This is pure DSD and I hope Deutche Grammaphone which seems to have a policy of only delivering stuff passed through a 24-bit process listens to this one from Channel Classics. Enough said.

I love Rachmaninoff's Third Symphony. I love "Isle of the Dead", and the "Symphonic Dances". The Second Symphony has always seemed syrupy to me-- perhaps because of the constant lifting of the big tunes into pop songs or movie soundtracks. I've had other recordings that I thought were fine--- Ormandy, Ashkenazy... I just didn't listen to them much. Then this one came along. This is heart with muscle! And while I'm not sure about how the Vocalise was miked, the Symphony was wonderfuly recorded. My highest recommendation for this wonderful disc.

I can't judge the SACD wow factor of this recording since all I have is the two-chaneel version, whose sonics are clear and natural. I was primarily interested in whether Fischer would interpret this by now familiar showpiece of Rachmaninov. The Sym. #2 has grown in stature over the years and makes for a thrilling experience, especially when the traditional cuts are restroed. The composer was long-winded, admittedly, but the sprawling scope of this work is a majaor part of its exhilirating impact.

Unfortunatley, fischer takes a decidedly low-key, even sober approach, a bad mistake in music this unabashedly lush and erotic. There was a time, long past, when conductors tried to save Rachmaninov ffrom his excesses. I guess that's Fischer's chaste intent here. But his Budapest Festival Orchestra isn't a bnad of world-class virtuosos, either, so one can't expect the ultimate in fireworks. I would stick with Ashkenazy, Previn (his EMI recording with the LSO, one of his very best), Temirkanov, and Bychkov, to mention somee of the most sensuous in both sound and orchestral playing.