Music CD - Sergey Rachmaninov, Kiril Kondrashin, Fritz Reiner, Van Cliburn: Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1; Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 [Hybrid SACD]

	Music CD: Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1; Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 [Hybrid SACD] Artist: Sergey Rachmaninov, Kiril Kondrashin, Fritz Reiner, Van Cliburn List Price: $11.98 Our Price: $8.71 Your Save: $ 3.27 ( 27% ) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Manufacturer: RCA
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Tracks: 1. Allegro Non Troppo E Molto Maestoso - RCA Symphony Orchestra 2. Andantino Simplice - RCA Symphony Orchestra 3. Allegro Con Fuoco - RCA Symphony Orchestra 4. Moderato; Allegro - Fritz Reiner 5. Adagio Sostenuto - Fritz Reiner 6. Allegro Scherzando - Fritz Reiner
Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0828766139228 Format: Hybrid SACD Label: RCA Manufacturer: RCA Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: RCA Release Date: 2004-09-14 Studio: RCA
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Unforgettable Cold War Hero Cliburn Comment: What a treasure! Both Cliburn and his lyrical, but intense interpretation of this classic will bring back memories for those of us who lived through the Cold War. Cliburn's music is as thrilling and emotional as it was when we first heard it 50 years ago. Customer Rating: Summary: The best known First Tchaikovsky Comment: Enough was said about van Cliburn's legendary performance at Tchaikovsky's competition. The Kondrashin's interpretation is sublime. I'd like however to comment on Rachmaninoff's second. I'm a big fan of it and even try to play it. And listening how Reiner destroys it with one sway of conductor's baton is unbearable. It just physically hurts! He destroys, for instance, the finale of the first movement by making it excessively emotionless and rhytmic. Ok, all we know how easy it's to become sentimental while playing Rachmaninoff. Rhythm must be esteemed. But not at the expense of expressiveness! The finale of the third movement is also spoiled. We can't hear a pianist over the orchestra's hauling! If you want to listen to a good performance, by Richter. Customer Rating: Summary: This is probably as good as the recording can get. Comment: The sound of this SACD is less impressive than the other Living Stereo DSD remasters I have heard - this is almost certainly due to the fact that the original tapes were not as well done as the others, and not because of poor mastering. In fact, this is probably as good as the sound of this recording can get. It certainly bests any of the regular CD editions that have been produced over the years, and lets not even talk about my ancient mouldering LP! Preserving the original three channel recording is a grand thing, and defineatly adds to the presentation - the only thing is that YOU have to have a sufficiently large listening room to fully appreciate it (to allow the three speakers to have enough distance between each other to get the most out of it). Without the proper space, the spatial imaging will to some degree be lost. Regardless of this though, if this recording is important to you, then this is the edition to have beyond a doubt. As for the performances, they are classics and you certainly can't go wrong with them - though I wouldn't say they are the 'best' for either of the respective pieces. For the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto N.2, my personal favourite is Reiner's other earlier (1956) recording with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra but featuring Artur Rubinstein as the soloist. Now there is a performance that is truly exciting, that really plays out the piece's romantic core to the fullest - both orchestra and soloist producing a rich passionate sound, bringing out the innate russianness of the music, truly bringing alive its inner meaning. Customer Rating: Summary: Excellent restoration of this vintage recording Comment: I literally grew up on this recording (the Cliburn Tchaikovsky). I have easily played it over a 100 times if not closer to 200. I am very happy to report the SACD version is the best that will ever be available for this recording. The original master tapes were 3 channel, so that is how it is presented here...left, center, right...but no surrounds. This anchors the piano in the middle (the piano is not all from the center however). This release is much better than the previous CD release. Having that center channel to anchor the piano makes a big difference. There is hardly any tape hiss either. My only reason for 4 stars instead of 5, is because this is a 1958 recording, the low end is not quite there....but the quality of the piano for this year is quite good. More Reviews
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