Customer Reviews

Ravel: Piano Concerto in G; Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 4

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Years ago I owned and then loaned the vinyl disc of these recordings, and I'm so glad the compact disc is available. These performances will compel you love these works. The Ravel is liquid crystal, and the slow movement achingly beautiful. The Rachmaninov 4th...this must be the greatest performance committed to posterity. I was no fan of this work until I listened and then re-listened to Michelangeli's performance. This is dark, defiantly melancholic music, and the soloist's articulation is astounding, the perfect amalgamation of fantasy, bravura and let's not leave out a dash of romance. I defy anyone who listens to the develpment section of the 1st movement not to get goosebumps on the back of their neck! This time I'm holding on to this prize.

I love Ravel's concerto in G ever since I heard it for the first time back in 1982! The first version I bought was the one with Pascal Roge (directed by Charles Dutoit); a nice version indeed! However, I love this concerto so much that this year I decided to buy two more versions that I was always curious about: the one with Martha Argerich (directed by Claudio Abbado) and this, my newest acquisition, with Michelangeli (directed by Ettore Gracis) from EMI's fantastic series "Great Recordings of the Century"!

In many ways I feel a certain similarity between Argerich's and Michelangeli's versions. Both exhibit tremendous power and great passion, although I feel Martha Argerich's has a little more feeling and perhaps a bit more excitement overall! Her playing also feels more relaxed than Michelangeli's. The second movement (adagio assai) is played beautifully by both of them, and it is perhaps in the first and third movements where I have a slight preference for Argerich's playing. Both Claudio Abbado and Ettore Gracis direction is fine in either version, however I prefer the overall orchestral sound in my older (Rage-Dutoit) version, it's more lushious than the other's!

I also like Rachmaninov's 4th concerto a lot, and have two other versions as well: Earl Wild's (under Horenstein) and Kocsis (under de Waart). If Wild's version is great and Kocsis' is just fine, Michelangeli's is simply stunning!!! The first movement is awesome!

One thing that dissapointed me a bit in this "Great Recordings of the Century" version is the recording's sound. There's more tape noise than I was expecting, judging by the excellent remastering shown in most of the other CDs that I own from this fabulous series!

So, if you don't mind a bit of tape noise and if you're ready to listen to a great version of Ravel's and an absolutely stunning Rach 4, go for it, this is truly one of the "Great Recordings of the Century"!

One of my favorite albums has always been the Ravel Concertos with Argerich playing the G maj Concerto and Beroff play the Concerto in D. I still think this disc is unmatched when it comes to an album with both concertos. I've always loved the Argerich and always thought the performance couldn't be matched. This was until I heard Michelangeli's version on the radio. The first movement was coming to an end and I didn't know who the performer was. Then the 2nd movement came on and the rest was history. It's one of the most devastating experiences of my musical life so far. Until this, I had the ever-familiar misperception of Michelangeli just being a technician, and that he is cold. Nothing can be further from the truth. I've learned that you really need a completely blinded test to truly gauge a performance because the preconceptions and reputations can unjustly influence a listening experience. The Argerich seems like child's play compared to Michelangeli, beyond comparison. This is also extremely well-recorded for 1958, better than Argerich's. The Rach 4 is simply stunning. I had never heard this work before and now I can't stop listening to it. Again, this is unmatched, nothing and I mean nothing comes closer. Not Wild, Ashkenazy, no one! Michelangeli had very few studio concerto recordings and these 2 concertos must have been special to him. I own >1300 clasical discs and can't think of a better concerto recording. It ranks up there with such great recordings as Kleiber Beethoven 5th and 7th as one of the greatest albums ever!

This CD is an all-time classic. Michelangeli had almost unlimited technique, and here he puts it to good use. The Rach 4 has probably never been equalled, while the Ravel is one of a few great recordings (Argerich is another).

Unfortunately, once you start noticing how terrible and out of time the triangle is (it's especially prominent in the Ravel) you just want to travel back through time and strangle the percussionist.

Michelangeli's piano playing is simply one of a kind, eschewing all sorts of musical tendencies to fit his own vision of these works presented on this disc, making it some of the most amazing pianism with an uncanny musical intellect. He was a perfectionist and hated recording, so michelangeli must have felt these recordings did him justice in order for him to authorize their release. That said, on to the performances.
The playing is inimitable and michelangeli i felt knew so much about piano technique that new musical spheres are reached that lesser pianists simply could not dream of doing. His playing is immaculately clean, revealing all sorts of contrapunctal details, esp. in the rachmaninov, but what amazes me every time is the absolutely hypnotic second movement of the ravel. rarely have i ever heard music in which time seems to stop. the rachmaninov is stunning as well (what amazing chord playing!) and makes the sometimes trivial second movement, around the theme of "three blind mice" a beautifully rendered and melancholy experience. The climax of the third movement is staggering as well, esp. since michelangeli's restraint stops and he absolutely unleashes...this has got to be piano playing, or even artistry at its finest.
A must for piano lovers and essential for michelangeli buffs.

To say this recording deserves five stars is misleading and insulting: to amalgamate Michelangeli with the countless banal "five star" recordings with polysyllable superlatives does him a disservice. Any whole number, regardless of size, cannot do Michelangeli's performance justice. (The reviewer giving this recording four stars should waive his first amendment right).
Other renditions of these two works are earthbound at best: Zimmerman is fine in the outer two movements of Ravel, but comes far short in the secound movement; Agerich's recording is appaling; the sound engineers in Richter's Rach 4 must have been asleep or out to lunch (make no difference); and Ashkenazy gives a passionless Rach 4.
Lastly, do not let the redording date fool you. The sound is as good as 'ADD' can get.

The usual superlatives -- astonishing, amazing, extraordinary, etc -- do not do justice to this recording. Michelangeli's interpretation is superhuman, almost God-like in its majestic grandeur. I have a collection of more than 250 romantic piano concerti and no other pianist comes close to this level of genius.

Though Michelangeli is not my favorite pianist, I admit this is the best Ravel Piano Concerto. No other disc ever impressed me as this disc did. Some always persist on the image of Michelangeli as just a technical wiz, but I disagree with those stiff headed critics on some of his recordings and this is one of them. He is technically gifted but this disc has much more to offer: amazing imagination and breath-taking expression.

Michelangeli brings the music to the max where you can feel the color and the texture of the music. The 1st and 3rd movement are like opening a magic box full of colors and fun, and his crystal clear tone comes so vivid. His vivid tone totally changes in the 2nd movement. Here, strange gap between right hand and left hand creates a dream like atmosphere. He truly brings out the unique quality of Ravel's music. Samson Francois' Ravel is full of French esprit rather than the music of Ravel. Though I enjoyed her performance, Argerich also fails in bringing out Ravel's unique quality. Without any doubt, this is the BEST recording of Ravel's piano concerto.

Fortunately, Michelangeli is in the perfect form in Rachmaninoff's No.4 also. He never gets dull and stretches the music to the full scale. In his hand, the music gets its life and comes so vivid. No other pianists made Rachmaninoff's No.4 so lively and enjoyable.

This disc is a triumph.

Michelangeli was a mystic player. His love and devotion for piano mixed with an absolute discipline and a beyond description technique are all displayed in this beautiful cd. These two masterpieces by Ravel and Rachmaninov are perfectly played . In the second movement of Ravel's concerto Michelangeli brings our heart sweetly to heaven. His touch is divine, his playing is ethereal.
This cd is simply wonderful!
I also suggest you to listen to Michelangeli's renditions of Debussy and Chopin...the best you may listen to for these two magical composers!

Who knows exactly what caused Michelangeli to choose pieces in his small repertory? Michelangeli played a bit of Ravel, so I suppose that explains it, but the R4 is rather a mysterious choice. All we can do is be glad that he recorded both works in acceptable stereo with a reasonable orchestra. Michelangeli is not always an easy pianist to love -- he can be an aloof patrician playing for himself rather than for either composer or public. But in these works, his interpretations are hypnotic -- every note is conveyed with clarity but also with all due intensity and every imaginable shade of colour. The Ravel has a serious challenger in Argerich's DG work, where the orchestral work is better, but the sense of sublime grace in the adagio is unequalled, the trills unimaginably pure. The Rakhmaninov has no rival at all -- even the composer pails beside such poised perfection. The complex polyphony is preserved in all its splendour alongside the passion of the outer movements. Recommended urgently to all but those who want to hear Three Blind in Mice in the second movement.