Search - Sergey Rachmaninov, Antal Dorati, London Symphony Orchestra :: Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3

A BRIEF THEORY OF EVOLUTION

Melvyn M. Sobel | Freeport (Long Island), New York | 11/16/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Rachmaninov's Third, for me, is the Second pushed to higher, more exalted ground, transmogrified and transformed. It's everything the Second Concerto wanted to be--- strained to be--- but never was (and couldn't be). The irony, of course, is that the Second Concerto is the most "popular"; but the Third is the more "perfect."



Especially in Janis' hands. What he brings to Rachmaninov's Third nobody else ever has: incredible understanding and passion, depth, breathtaking poetic fire and an unerring nobility. His view of this work is so completely "total"--- it overwhelms. No other pianist I've ever heard, including Horowitz, has imbued the Third with as much dimension, nor performed the concerto as exceptionally.



To my way of thinking, Janis "owns" this concerto. His version is, indeed, a critical necessity, regardless how many other Rachmaninov Thirds you already own. The inclusion of the Second Concerto was a smart move--- an exciting "filler," along with the sundry solo piano works.



The sound provided by producer Wilma Cozart Fine is exceptionally "fine," indeed, in the Third, and only marginally less so in the Second. Janis, especially, is captured most vividly, his piano full, warm and close, every nuance and detail clear.



You can never really "know" Rachmaninov's Third unless you hear Janis; his is a performance for the ages.



[Running time: 75:18]"

A terrific trip back into the Mercury Living Presence vaults

Bob Zeidler | Charlton, MA United States | 12/31/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For those already having SACD playback capabilities, or contemplating purchase of a SACD deck, this Byron Janis/Antal Dorati recording of Rachmaninoff's 2nd and 3rd Piano Concertos (and two Preludes for piano) has been newly released in hybrid SACD form. Below are my comments on the SACD release, covering both the SACD layer and the "redbook" CD layer. Those with (or contemplating) SACD capabilites will want to check this new release (ASIN B0000DC15K) out; the sound quality is simply stunning; a knock-out!



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Some good things - REALLY good things - are happening with the advent of the hybrid SACD (which I believe to be the long-term medium of choice for classical music lovers). BMG has gone back into its early-stereo-days vaults for some treasures (initially, 10 releases) from the beginnings of the Living Stereo days. And now Decca/Philips has done likewise with the Mercury Living Presence vaults. This Byron Janis/Antal Dorati Rachmaninoff collection (one of approximately six such Mercury Living Presence hybrid SACDs released so far) is as good as it gets for fans of Sergei Rachmaninoff's piano concerti.



Rachmaninoff wrote four concerti for the instrument, but the middle two, as on this release, are by far the best known (and best loved) of the four. For many years, the 2nd Piano Concerto, largely thanks to its "Full Moon and Open Arms" theme in the final movement, was more popular with audiences and listeners than the 3rd. But, thanks largely to the dramatized travails of the Australian pianist David Helfgott in the movie "Shine," the race, as it were, is much closer. The 3rd definitely places much higher technical demands on the soloist, and in any event has always been my preference of the two.



Byron Janis, at his prime (as he is in these performances), was one of the finest pianists of his generation. (If the latest generation of classical music listeners is unfamiliar with his abilities, it certainly isn't due to the magnificent support that the Mercury label provided for him through most of those years. More likely, the unfamiliarity is due to a very steep decline in his concertizing activities once he was stricken with psoriatic arthritis in the early '70s.) A prodigious technician, Janis was also able to infuse his playing with finely-honed lyricism when called for; he was definitely not a subscriber to today's "Bang Bang" (or "Clang Clang" if you will) school of pianism. (Interestingly, he was the first private student that Vladimir Horowitz took on [and Horowitz only had a few such students]. While he undoubtedly learned well from Horowitz, I believe that his ability to combine technical prowess with lyricism was innate.)



I don't know that there are any better performances of these two popular works. I've heard many (and own a bunch of those I've heard), but when I noticed that Decca/Philips included these performances in their initial hybrid SACD release package, I scarfed up this disc in a heartbeat. The sound, even in just the "redbook" CD layer, is literally like "being there," thanks to the magnificent job that Wilma Cozart Fine had done in transferring the master tapes to the CD medium in the last decade. But it is the SACD layer that is truly stunning, with woodwinds having a nice sense of "air" around them, silky strings (even when played fortissimo) and cymbal transients (at the end of the Rachmaninoff 3rd) that do not go into "overload" distortion. To my ears, it is as if the sessions had been taped last week. To your ears, perhaps, you'll be satisfied that the recording quality lacks nothing as compared with current releases.



Dorati gives Janis warmly detailed and wonderfully played support, from both the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (now the Minnesota Orchestra) in the 2nd concerto and the London Symphony Orchestra in the 3rd concerto. Remarkably, there is no discernible difference in either the orchestras' abilities (a tribute to Dorati) or the ambient sound (a tribute to the skilled Mercury team, led by Bob Fine and Wilma Cozart Fine). I could only detect that the LSO had its violas in front of the cellos on the right, and in their more usual seating for the Minneapolis sessions. Beyond that, I doubt anyone could tell the difference.



The album is nicely rounded out with two Rachmaninoff preludes, including the famous Prelude in C-sharp Minor.



The booklet, save for technical updates describing the transfer-to-SACD process and an update on Janis's activities to the present, faithfully duplicates the original text and artwork. The text includes a perceptive essay on the concerti by Arthur Loesser, who had been, as a youth, at the world premiere performance of the 3rd Piano Concerto when Rachmaninoff performed it in New York in 1909, with Walter Damrosch conducting the New York Symphony Orchestra. Within a week, give or take, Rachmaninoff again performed it in New York, this time with the New York Philharmonic led by Gustav Mahler (an event well-documented in Mahler anecdote history by virtue of the pains that Mahler took in preparing the orchestra while Rachmaninoff waited patiently). Loesser's notes suggest that he only attended the Damrosch-led performance, and not the Mahler-led one. I dare say, had it been my allowance, I know which one I'd pick.



I also dare say that, if you pick these Janis/Dorati performances, you won't be disappointed.



Bob Zeidler"

The definitive Rachmaninoff 3

William Mitchell | Columbus, OH USA | 04/02/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having purchased both the Rachmaninoff 2 and 3 on Mercury LPs back in the early 1960's, I have listened to and enjoyed these recordings for over 40 years. The star is the Janis Rach 3rd. While I have heard innumerable performances of this concerto over the years, none, repeat none, matches Janis's for dazzling technique and interpretation. The sound quality on the LP to this day is astonishing. Its CD equivalent, sourced from the 3 track magnetic tape and not the 35 mm magnetic film used for the Rach 3 LP, is very good, if not the last word in detail that is present on the LP. I treasure the CD reissue for I can take it where the LP can not go. The Rach 2 here is not interpretatively as exciting as the 3rd, and the sound more thuddy, courtesy the Minneapolis venue, but it is still a very good performance. There are only a handful of recordings that I would take to the fictional desert island, but Janis with Dorati interpreting the Rach 3 is one of them. Highest possible recommendation."