Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 / Nutcracker (ballet suite) excerpts ~ Gilels / Reiner

Tchaikovsky (Composer), Fritz Reiner (Conductor), Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Emil Gilels (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Emil Gilels
• Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Fritz Reiner
• Composer: Tchaikovsky
• Audio CD (November 19, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony Classics / RCA Victor
• ASIN: B000003G3W
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #184,681 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nearly flawless, July 4, 2004

By 

M. Fisher "emilgilels" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 / Nutcracker (ballet suite) excerpts ~ Gilels / Reiner (Audio CD)

I have 8 recordings of Tchaikovsky's 1st by Gilels; I would say this one ranks in Gilels' top 3 (of his recorded performances). The orchestral accompaniment Gilels' receives from Reiner and the Chicago is better than first-rate (if that is possible!).
One of the previous reviewers mentioned distracting tape splicings, but they are hardly noticeable, even on high-end equipment and unforgiving headphones. Of the easily available Gilels' recordings of the 1st, buy this one! Gilels certainly eclipses Cliburn and Horowitz in this work (Richter isn't on the map).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A performance for the ages, May 17, 2010

By 

Jurgen Lawrenz (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 / Nutcracker (ballet suite) excerpts ~ Gilels / Reiner (Audio CD)

There is no such things as a definitive performance. But one can say that some performances are so utterly convincing that you are left with a feeling "as if" this must be definitive. The present recording is one of these rare occasions.
Most people who have ever written on it seem to agree. It is true that there is evidence of some splicing; and as a reading of the work, it may not be as "perfect" as one or two of its rivals where every note is absolutely in the right place. What I mean is that the SPIRIT of this performance is such as to invite you to participate in an occasion, an adventure. It is not a picture postcard of an event, but the real thing. This is what's so exciting about it.
This is not even mentioning the wonderfully crafted "fill up", a very generous selection from the Nutcracker ballet.
Gilels recorded this work several times, and the difference to the other stereo recording in print is evident instantly. Just play the first 10 seconds from the Gilels/Maazel recording and then this one: RCA in 1955 (!!) captured a cleaner, better, richer sound than EMI engineers 20 years later. So you are instantly captivated by the sound alone; and then follows the recognition of a performance with tremendous sweep and boldness. I have to say that Reiner is definitely instrumental in helping this along: he was a far better conductor than Maazel could ever aspire to.
In a word: don't worry too much about niggling imperfections. This is a performance for the ages. It will stand as a beacon to the possibilities of transmitting a sense of greatness via recordings that had few equals in the 100 years that we have been making records. I might add, lest you think I'm just carried away by it, that I have been living with this recording (on LP) since about 1960 and had something like 22 rival version in my collection at one time. None of the others convey that same aura of magnificence. American music lovers who evince a hankering for Cliburn Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1; Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 [Hybrid SACD] would find non-Americans immured to it. It is not a great performance, just a great sentimental occasion.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Presence of a piano titan!, August 26, 2006

By 

Hiram Gomez Pardo (Valencia, Venezuela) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 / Nutcracker (ballet suite) excerpts ~ Gilels / Reiner (Audio CD)

The presence of Emil Gilels was always be synonymous of remarkable interpretative solvency. Although his approach was a mite cold, he had an overall concept of the score and far beyond you were agree or not with his approaches, there was a lot of bulletproof honesty and mercurial conviction that we have to acknowledge.

This version of the First Piano Concerto of Tchaikovsky remains among one of his best achievements ever recorded. Genuine expressiveness, sheer pianism, fluid phrasing and exemplary tune are one the major virtues of this performance.

Highly recommended. .