115 of 115 people found the following review helpful
A moment of truth,
March 5, 2006 e. verrillo (williamsburg, ma) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Rachmaninoff Plays Rachmaninoff: The 4 Piano Concertos (Audio CD)
This afternoon I put on this recording of Rachmaninov, thinking I could use a little background music as I cleaned the living room. It stopped me dead in my tracks. For the next half hour (it was the third concerto) I sat on the coffee table, clutching my dust rag and muttering an occasional "my god!"
I am tempted to heap adjectives on this performance: focused, driving, powerful, intense, masterful. But there is only one which does it justice: Russian. Those long, long sweeping phrases, that amazing build-up of tension, like a kazatske that goes faster, and faster, until you drop of exhaustion. Only Rachmaninov isn't going faster; he simply isn't letting up. He doesn't let you lean back and rest, even in his tender moments. When you hear him play, you lean forward, you hold your breath, you close your eyes, and you try to hang on.
When it comes to performances, everyone has his or her own preference. Some like the drama of Horowitz, the lyricism of...Read more
57 of 57 people found the following review helpful
Fascinating accounts--Romantic composer not Romantic pianist,
August 16, 2001 John Grabowski (USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Rachmaninoff Plays Rachmaninoff: The 4 Piano Concertos (Audio CD)
Rachmaninoff has had a reputation for being a Big Romantic. Perhaps his music comes off that way in others' hands, but as these recordings (and others as well) clearly show, the ol' lug was not an overly Romantic interpretor of his own works.These readings may take some getting used to for those weaned on newer interpretations. Pianists today sometimes play Rachmaninoff as though he were Tchaikovsky (making me wonder if, by extension, they're even getting Tchaikovsky right). But as Gyorgy Sandor once observed, "Rachmaninoff left us recordings of all his concertos--fortunately. Most pianists today do not bother to listen to them--unfortunately." When we hear Sergei play his own works (and not just the concertos) we hear a very fleet, powerful and straightforward intellect, lightening fast, concise, with no wasted expressive motion. This may put off some, but I don't find it makes him sound "bored" or detatched. Admittedly this is not the only way I'd want...Read more
34 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Pianists, don't ignore a valuable source of information!,
July 12, 2000 "fjdmpd" (West River, MD USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Rachmaninoff Plays Rachmaninoff: The 4 Piano Concertos (Audio CD)
It is impossible to go back in time and listen Beethoven playing his own brilliant piano works. So too one could never know exactly how Chopin played his own music. The recordings Rachmaninoff made of his own works afford us a priceless opportunity to know exactly how the composer intended his own works to be played. Anyone with more than a passing intrest in Rachmaninoff's piano concerti and Paganini Rhapsody should buy this album. Furthermore it is a grave mistake for any pianist learning any of these works to do so without having heard Rachmaninoff's own recordings of them. Don't let the hissing dissuade you from listening to this fantastic recording. It is well worth the price.
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