Tchaikovsky: Concerto No. 1/Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 2

Tchaikovsky: Concerto No. 1/Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 2

Tchaikovsky: Concerto No. 1/Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 2
List Price: $9.99
Our Price: $6.80
You Save: $3.19 (32%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.70 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Listen soundtracks from this album



(Click here)
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store

CD Details

Composer: Sergey Rachmaninov
Composer: Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
Conductor: Fritz Reiner
Conductor: Kiril Kondrashin
Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Orchestra: RCA Victor Orchestra
Orchestra: RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra
Performer: Van Cliburn
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1993-01-12
Music Label: RCA
Soundtracks:
  1. Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23: Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso - Allegro con spirito
  2. Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23: Andantino simplice - Prestissimo
  3. Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23: Allegro con fuoco
  4. Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18: No. 1, Moderato
  5. Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18: No. 2, Adagio sostenuto
  6. Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18: No. 3, Allegro scherzando

Music reviews of Tchaikovsky: Concerto No. 1/Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 2

Music Review: This CD captures a vital musical and cultural moment
Rating: 5 Stars

I wasn't even born when Cliburn took the world by storm, winning the Tchaikovsky competition in the Soviet Union. But the legend still lived on when I was taking piano lessons at the age of nine. While I was growing up, listening to any Cliburn recording conjured up the swell of pride that our nation felt about him, and that extra-musical element added to the joy of his music-making.

We often focus on Cliburn's victory in the Soviet Union as a uniquely American victory. A lanky Texan walked into the Soviet Union, our Cold War enemy, and played Russian music to a severely discerning Russian audience, completely bowling them over. Khrushchev had to give permission to the judges to give Cliburn the Gold Medal because it represented such an embarassment to the Soviet Union to have their pianists lose to an American.

In truth, it was also a victory for the Russians. To find that their music could be played with such understanding and depth by a young man so culturally and geographically removed from the Russian people proved that Russian music is universal -- it transcends cultural boundaries. That an American could be taught to play Russian music so brilliantly could only mean that Russian music was so great and compelling that it could speak to the soul of any human being regardless of his or her background.

In other words, it was a win-win situation for America and Russia, and this recording of the Tchaikovsky concerto becomes the place of meeting where both Russians and Americans can celebrate. Having Kiril Kondrashin, the famed Soviet conductor, lead the orchestra only serves to make that point even clearer.

This extra-musical element has always imbued Cliburn's recording with a sense of occasion. But one would be remiss if one thought that this recording was special only because of Cliburn's sweet victory. The discerning Russian audience knew what it heard was great, and this recording taken from a Carnegie Hall concert shortly after the competition makes it clear what they were so excited about.

Cliburn is a big-hearted player. He has a generous, open style that is utterly disarming. His playing is full of lyricism, grandeur, majesty and heart. It is particularly revealing to compare Cliburn's recording with another Tchaikovsky recording imbued with a sense of occasion: Horowitz and Toscanini.

On April 25, 1943, the great Russian pianist Vladimir Horowitz played a benefit performance of the Tchaikovsky 1st piano concerto at Carnegie Hall with the legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony. Money from the performance went to support the war effort by purchasing war bonds. The musicians brought a special fervor to the performance inspired by their patriotism for their new-found homeland. Here, again, the Tchaikovsky concerto became the medium through which cultural boundaries were transcended. But no playing could be more diametrically opposed to Cliburn's playing than Horowitz's.

If Horowitz's performance represented the pinnacle of what Russian's might expect from the Tchaikovsky concerto, then Cliburn brought a whole new perspective to the piece. Where Horowitz is incisive and brilliant, Cliburn is broad, noble and majestic. Where Horowitz can play at lightening-fast speeds, Cliburn chooses to slow the tempo in order to capture the ardour and sweep of the musical line. If the Russians were accustomed to Horowitz or Horowitz-like playing, then Cliburn's performance was a new revelation and marked a turning point in the way the Tchaikovsky concerto would be heard and performed.

Cliburn's performance may not have been as boldly different in conception as I argue above (after all, his teacher was a Russian pianist named Rosina Lhevinne), but it has become the standard by which I compare all other performances that have come after him. And the Horowitz recording I mentioned is a standard by which all pre-Cliburn performances get measured. They are so different and deserve to be heard in tandem to experience how a single piece of music can be interpreted in different ways.

The recording of Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto comes from a later date (with Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony). This, too, has been my standard for Rach 2. Cliburn brings the same generous lyrical style to this most familiar piano concerto.

I highly recommend this disc, especially because of the historical moment it captures, but also because the performances are without peer.

More Tchaikovsky: Concerto No. 1/Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 2 free music reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Description of Tchaikovsky: Concerto No. 1/Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 2

Van Cliburn, Tchaikovsky concerto No. 1 in flat minior ofp. 23 Rachmaninoff: concerto No2 in Minor, Op.18 Fritz Reiner/Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Classical CDs

Music Genres
Bestsellers in Classical CDs
Winterscapes ImageWinterscapes
by London Philharmonic
Prophetic Voice; Published: 2000-07; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $2.74
Price in other shops: $6.99
The Queen, the Bear, and the Bumblebee ImageThe Queen, the Bear, and the Bumblebee
by Dini Petty
Childrens Group; Published: 2001-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $13.40
Price in other shops: $20.98
Beethoven Lives Upstairs Cdr ImageClassical Kids - Beethoven Lives Upstairs Cdr
Release date: 2000-04-05; Music CD
Best price: $25.98
Tchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos)) ImageTchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos))
by Malcolm Sinclair, Jeremy Siepmann
Naxos; Published: 2003-11; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $35.99
Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS] ImageJose Carreras - Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS]
Sling Shot; Release date: 2000-04-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $5.87
Price in other shops: $9.99
Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS] ImageTchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-09-09; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.94
Price in other shops: $29.95
Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS] ImageRambert Dance Company - Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-10-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $24.99
Price in other shops: $29.95
Winter Music: Composing the North ImageWinter Music: Composing the North
by John Luther Adams
Wesleyan; Published: 2004-11-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.80
Price in other shops: $25.95
Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] ImagePuccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops: $29.95
Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] ImageVerdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops: $29.95
Similar CDs
Van Cliburn: My Favorite Liszt ImageVan Cliburn: My Favorite Liszt
Release date: 2000-05-16; Music CD
Best price: $4.55
Price in other shops: $7.99
Chopin: Favorite Piano Works ImageChopin: Favorite Piano Works
CHOPIN,F.; Release date: 1996-02-13; Music CD
Best price: $10.60
Price in other shops: $17.98
Dvorák: Cello Concerto, Op. 104 / Tchaikovsky: Rococo Variations, Op. 33 ImageDvorák: Cello Concerto, Op. 104 / Tchaikovsky: Rococo Variations, Op. 33
CON; Release date: 1996-01-23; Music CD
Best price: $4.70
Price in other shops: $11.98
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7 ImageBeethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7
Release date: 1996-01-23; Music CD
Best price: $4.22
Price in other shops: $11.98
Gershwin: Rhapsody In Blue / An American In Paris ImageGershwin: Rhapsody In Blue / An American In Paris
Release date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $4.45
Price in other shops: $7.99
Rachmaninoff Plays Rachmaninoff: The 4 Piano Concertos ImageRachmaninoff Plays Rachmaninoff: The 4 Piano Concertos
Release date: 1994-08-16; Music CD
Best price: $12.60
Price in other shops: $15.99
Tchaikovsky: Symphonies no 4, 5, & 6 / Karajan, Berlin PO ImageTchaikovsky: Symphonies no 4, 5, & 6 / Karajan, Berlin PO
Release date: 1997-07-15; Music CD
Best price: $10.28
Price in other shops: $17.98
My Favorite Chopin ImageMy Favorite Chopin
Release date: 1997-10-14; Music CD
Best price: $4.26
Price in other shops: $7.99
Tchaikovsky & Mendelssohn Violin Concertos ImageTchaikovsky & Mendelssohn Violin Concertos
Release date: 2003-10-21; Music CD
Best price: $6.26
Price in other shops: $11.98
The World's Favorite Piano Music ImageThe World's Favorite Piano Music
Release date: 1992-07-14; Music CD
Best price: $6.37
Price in other shops: $8.99
Compare prices and find music notes for more than one million Music CD titles