Customer Reviews

Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 / The Nutcracker Suite (for two pianos)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Most listeners will come for the Tchaikovsky First Concerto and stay for the two-piano version of the Nutrcracker Suite. I think it should be the other way around. Argerich is a great devotee of piano duets, of course, and has had many partners over the years. In this 1983 performance she found the best of all in Nicolas Economou, the gifted Cypriot pianist and composer who died tragically in a car accident. Their partnership sounds as if one inspired musician were playing, which is the highest praise one can give a duo. It's a unique, celebratory reading.

The piano concerto, recorded live in 1994, begins with the most thrilling first movement I ever hope to hear--not only is Argerich at her spontaneous best, but Abbado joins her in a rip-roaring orchestral accompaniment with the Berlin Phil. It really is a sahme that DG's sonics are cramped and clattery, but they hardly matter. The last two movements I would say are decidedly lower in inspiration, and the finale in particular seems to find Argerich doing nothing special beyond, of course, playing in first-rate style. Still, I will return many times to this Nutcracker (too bad there's only 20 min. of it!).

You just wouldn't believe how this 2-piano version of this magnificent piece is performed. Personally I have not yet heard an orchestra play this piece with such energy and tenderness at the same time. Nicolas Economou proved to be a great transcriber. It should be mentioned that Deutsche Gramophone chose not to reproduce the original cd, featuring this work along with the Rachmaninov Symphonic dances, Op. 45, so it is a collector's item. The first concerto I am afraid is not the best I have heard from Martha. I personally prefer the first version of it with Abbado. But still some wonderful moments are to be heard from the most loved woman-pianist of the century.

There is no doubt, this is one of the very best musical performances of the Nutcracker suite. You will hardly find a version of The Nutcracker in piano solo. I am just facinated with this title, since the version of the Piano Concerto No.1 by Tchaikovsky is lovely, and The Nutcracker is out of this world. I recoment this title to everyone who loves the Nutcracker Suite since the opus 71a is just GREAT!!!

If you like Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1, you must have Richter(Karajan) and Horowitz(Toscanini). And, if you REALLY like Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1, you must have this CD. Whenever people talk about Argerich, they always use the vocabulary "pyrotechnics" regarding her limitless technique and this recording shows it at its best. Martha Argerich could not only be the greatest pianist of the 20th century, but of history!

This is terrible recorded sound. I simply cannot forgive the balance engineer, and the people responsible for mic placement for screwing this one up. The sound is very thin, and has almost a bleached harshness to it. To mess up a performance like this makes me want to vomit. They can tell you about their 4D Audio Recording System all they want, but the truth is this doesn't sound like music. Some will respond to this saying: "but it is a live performance". Yep, DG recorded a live performance of this piece back in 1987 with Kissin as the pianist and Karajan with the BPO in the same location. The sound there, while not perfect is MUCH better then it is here.

Still, those who are not nutty audiophiles like myself will probably enjoy this one, because it is really an wonderful demonstration by Martha Argerich. While maybe not the best interpretation by a pianist of this piece there is no denying that this women has unbelievable amounts of talent and charisma. I'm not very keen on Abbado and the Berliners backdrop here, but I think this is mostly due to the wretched sound balancing. If this were almost any other performance I would give this 1 star, but since it is so good I will ignore the sound quality a little and give it 3. Audio minded people should be warned to stay away.

I have absolutely never heard of anyone playing Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 with such fiery and passion at the same time. Yes, not ever Argerich herself. This is definetly the best recording of the Piano 1.

If my house were burning down, this is something I would try to save from the flames. Not because it is the greatest piece of music ever performed - I have better CDs, lots of them, alone from Martha - but simply because the performance of the Nutcracker delivers more unadulterated pleasure than almost anything else I own (can't speak for the concerto - i listened to it once, and haven't done so again since).

I compare this recording to my Mel Gibson Hamlet video. I am glad I have both Gibson and Agerich, just to know where the low end of the meter is. Gibson's reading of Hamlet is ... well ... bizarre, the low end of a scale topped by Sir Laurence Olivier and Kenneth Branagh. Bizarre is perhaps the kindest thing one can say about this "interpretation." Richter. Cliburn. Bronfman (whom I heard live tonight, a concert that confirmed my judgement). Not Agerich.... I don't understand the cult around her. Proof of "De gustibus non est disputandum."

Having had all Argerich's recordings on Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1, I can hardly claim that this one is the best. Firstly, I don't think BPO does a good job because it draws back the passion that is typical in Argerich's playing. BPO tends to favor slow and more majestic rendition, that can be heard in other recordings of this orchestra (Listen to Richter's Tchaikovsky No.1 under the baton of Karajan, which is quite a disappointing rendition). Secondly, I think Argerich plays very tentatively, meaning that she sounds as if she were a novice who is afraid of any mistake. This is actually quite reasonable. Because in the live performing version of this same piece that is collected in the Rachmaninov No.3 CD, she has made many mistakes in particularly the last movement. I guess she is afraid of making more mistakes...^_^. All what I said does not mean that Argerich is not a suitable pianist in interpreting this work. Indeed, her live performance with Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Kazimier Kord is a much better recording. That recording embodies all the aspects of Argerich's being one of the greatest pianists, her passion, her technic tour de force, and her daring to play on the edge. All in all, this CD is worth buying only because of the Nutcracker Suite. I think everybody will enjoy it very much. But if you wanna enjoy a superb rendition of Tchaikovsky No.1 Piano Concerto, please get the one with Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Kazimier Kord.