Customer Reviews

RCA Victor Basic 100, Vol. 48- Grieg / Schumann: Piano Concertos

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

 

 

(I am giving this performance of the Schumann 5 stars. I have not yet evaluated the included Grieg concerto.)

This Schumann performance is going to take a lot of people by surprise. It is simply the best I have ever heard. I got to know the concerto through the Szell/Fleisher Cleveland lp, which also includes the Grieg. I still have their cd. (By the way, their Grieg concerto is the best I know, and I like that concerto very much.) I moved over from the Szell/Fleisher performance after hearing the excellent and exciting Giulini/Yevgeny Kissin/Vienna Philharmonic live recording (Sony) of 1992. Yes, indeed, that is still a very fine performance. And the sound is great. I still cherish it. BUT ... lo and behold there is even a better one out there done by Rubenstein, Giulini, and the Chicago Symphony. It is unheralded and almost out of circulation, but you can get it quickly as I did.

Here is big, bold, romantic Schumann. Get ready for the big sound. After hearing this performance, I am ruined on almost anyone's else. Rubenstein gives a tremendous performance, almost perfect. The CSO plays with a big sound of passion and sonority. And Giulini is the perfect conductor for this concerto, which, I believe, he conducted very often during his career. The whole things is a very sweet triumph from start to finish. Gee, let me gush and say I think it is wonderful.

If you want to be very pleasantly surprised like I was, then get this cd before it is out of circulation. You'll listen to it every day for a week before you begin to believe how sensational it is!

Wowzers! Rubinstein has such unbelievably good tone here, and the recording has such a warm sound. I would agree with the other reviewer that this is a near perfect Schumann Concerto recording. The rubato is perfect, and the stereo sound is perfectly balanced. The Chicago Symphony is a favorite orchestra of mine, too! This is a for sure recording to get.