Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos 2 & 3 / Ashkenazy, Kondrashin

Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos 2 & 3 / Ashkenazy, Kondrashin

Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos 2 & 3 / Ashkenazy, Kondrashin
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CD Details

Composer: Sergey Rachmaninov
Conductor: Anatole Fistoulari
Conductor: Kiril Kondrashin
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
Orchestra: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1999-09-14
Music Label: Decca
Soundtracks:
  1. Piano Concerto No.2 In C Minor, Op.18: I Moderato
  2. Piano Concerto No.2 In C Minor, Op.18: II Adagio Sostenuto
  3. Piano Concerto No.2 In C Minor, Op.18: III Allegro Scherzando
  4. Piano Concerto No. 3 In D Minor, Op.30: I Allegro ma non tanto
  5. Piano Concerto No. 3 In D Minor, Op.30: II Adagio
  6. Piano Concerto No. 3 In D Minor, Op.30: III Finale, Alle-Breve

Music reviews of Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos 2 & 3 / Ashkenazy, Kondrashin

Music Review: This "Decca Legends 1963" is not a legendary affair
Rating: 2 Stars

Not that much of a Decca Legendary 1963 affair., 31 Jan 2011
By
Judy Spotheim (Belgium, Europe) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos 2 (Audio CD)
The better recording of the two piano concertos on this CD (which contains the Rachmaninoff No. 2 and No.3) is definitely the third piano concerto which is the earliest Ashkenazy (analogue) version made in 1963 with Fistulari/London symphony.
There is a feel of excitement all over, a great fluent playing and monumental climaxes.
Yet, the recording Ashkenazy made later at the digital era with the Concertgebouw/Haitink, surpassed this 1963 version on ground of agility, interpretation and recording merit.

The second piano concerto on this ADD CD is a lame horse, in that, that it has no real focus and no real drive.
The sound captured here (second piano concerto) is veiled, misty, has a larger than life piano presence that cloaks the orchestral groups and buries them under the piano weight, no real "see-through", nothing like the real-thing.
The later version of the second piano concerto made with the Concertgebouw has a better nuances, details, outlook on the sound-stage and it captured better the instruments thereof.

Continuously on this ADD Decca transfer CD there is some softening of the frequencies from top to bottom and most gravely, the lowest bass attack (at the bottom octave) is sorely almost totally missing, almost non existing, a bad thing it is as it robs the passages (mainly at the end of the third piano concerto) and other climax passages that serves as a springboard-take-off (diving) board for the piano - those are missing and are greatly omitted causing a diminish drama, drive and excitement.
A comparison with the LP (SXL 6057) proves that the bass-drum attacks were originally there to enjoy and for the heart to skip a beat, but in the digitizing whirl presented here with this "legendary", those instances were reduced to nothing. I would say this bass entanglement is caused by mis-judging by the re-mastering team (who for this or that reason thought to spare the playback system from a more dynamic and realistic bass frequencies - a stupid decision to my mind).
So, this "Decca Legends 1963" is not a legendary affair but a mediocre re-mastering that misses the point.
Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos 2 & 3 / Ashkenazy, Kondrashin
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