Search - Frederic Chopin, Alfred Wallenstein, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski :: Chopin:Rubinstein Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 [Hybrid SACD]

Rubinstein's Chopin in Living Stereo

Hank Drake | Cleveland, OH United States | 03/25/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Rubinstein recorded the Chopin Concertos numerous times. This version of Chopin's first Concerto is particularly successfu, partly thanks to the sensitive accompaniment of the New London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Stanislaw Skrowaczewski. Tempos are well-judged, phrasing is supple and natural, virtuosity is there, but not for its own sake. The sound on the original LP and the first CD issue was plagued by dropouts at the beginning of the Concerto--these have been smoothed over remarkably. Balance between orchestra and piano has also been improved.



The Second Concerto is somewhat less successful. Here, Rubinstein is partnered by Alfred Wallenstein, his favored accompanist during the 1950s and early 1960s. Wallenstein secures reasonable playing from the Symphony of the Air, then long past its earlier glory as the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Purists should be warned that, at Rubinstein's insistence, the violins do not play "sui ponticello" as Chopin indicated in the last movement. Rubinstein's playing is fine, but the overall enjoyment of the performance is hampered by the sonic picture, which remains synthetic and dryish--despite the best efforts at SACD remastering. The later version with Ormandy is to be preferred over this one.

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Performance: 5 stars; sonics: 2 stars

Rubén | US | 04/17/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"In the last 30 years I've listened to two different LP versions of this recording (the single-LP containing Cto #1 with the same cover as this SACD, and the double-LP version that contained both concertos plus the Andante Spianato) as well as the CD release from the '90s. The performances are excellent, but unfortunately, the recording was never done well, so the SACD engineers didn't have much to work with. If you purchase this knowing what to expect, you will enjoy the performance, but if you wish to have a "show-off" SACD for when company comes over, another Living Stereo such as the Offenbach Gaite Parisienne (which was recorded several years *earlier* than the Chopin) will knock your proverbial socks off."

Reference recordings

jsa | San Diego, CA United States | 03/19/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are a number of fine couplings of the Chopin concertos in the catalog, however, so highly regarded were these Rubinstein recordings that for decades they were the standard by which all others were measured. Have they been superceded? Maybe, but they have a strong advantage in that they reflect what must have been hundreds of performances by the great Chopin pianist going back forty or more years. The best way to describe them is that they are very sturdy but elegant, completely fresh & inspired, splashed with poetic touches & also have plenty of muscle in the virtuoso passages.



The sonics, dating from 1958 & 1961, are naturally not state of the art, especially the second concerto which is the older of the two & in which the piano is a little dimmer than I recall from previous LP & cd incarnations. I do, however, think the sound on the first concerto is an improvement over anything I've heard before.



Very warmly recommended."