Search - Sergey Rachmaninov, Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa :: Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3

Don't be too quick in going for the inexpensive option

Sebastian Fernandez | Tampa, Florida United States | 06/02/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"When I saw this CD with the two most sought after concertos by Rachmaninoff, and realized that the New York Philharmonic was conducted by Bernstein in the No. 2 and Ozawa in the No. 3, I could not wait to get my hands on it. Especially considering that it was at a bargain price. Sadly, I quickly found out that there was a problem with it, since even though the CD is labeled as "Digitally remastered for superior quality", I can attest that the quality of the sound is very poor, especially in some parts, like the beginning of the second concerto.



As to the performances, the concerto No. 2 is very good, with Entremont and Bernstein complementing each other well and keeping the same tempo. Watts and Ozawa are good in the third too, but only until they get to the finale, where we see them exclude part of the movement, and play the rest of it at an incredibly fast pace. It seemed to me as if they were in a hurry because the restaurant in which they were having dinner was about to close its doors.



To sum up, even though the price is good, and the performances are decent, especially in the case of No. 2, the sound quality is sub par and drastically limits the enjoyment of the experience. Unless you like to listen to classical music while frying eggs I recommend that you look for an alternative. In terms of low price options, I would recommend the EMI Classics release featuring Gavrilov and the Philadelphia Orchestra, which is a little more expensive, but has much better sound quality and includes other pieces, like Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and some other compositions for solo piano.

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Could do without the B-flat creaky chair

Bob DuHamel | El Cajon, CA USA | 04/09/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The performance of the 2nd isn't half-bad (no opinion on the 3rd). I can tolerate the tape hiss on these old recording. It's a small price to pay for some of the excellent performances by Ormandy and Solti (and sometimes Bernstein) that were made in the days before digital recording. However, good grief, the creaking chairs in the recording of the 2nd will drive you nuts. At least it's ballanced (one in the left and one in the right speakers). I wish Sony would release more of these old recordings on CD but this one, well, I guess it's worth the seven bucks but I can take it or leave it."

Performances that create ripples in a moonlit lake

Tahseen Nakavi | Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India | 12/04/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are scores of Rachmaninov's second piano concerto recordings in the market but this interpretation by Philippe Entremont and Leonard Bernstein leading the New York Philharmonic towers above the rest. Exquisite playing by Entremont with slow tempi particularly in the second movement where he punctuates each note with emotion and at a pace that does not sound hurried with superb accompaniment by the orchestra. Kudos to Bernstein for reading this right. Lenny has done another version of this concerto with Gary Graffman at New York and that sounds like the orchestra and the soloist are rushing through the concerto as if they have to catch the last bus in a hurry. There is no version available that treats the second movement of this second concerto with such emotion. That gives this performance its distinct edge. Another version that makes its mark is the Artur Rubinstein reading with the Philadelphians under Eugene Ormandy.

Seiji Ozawa and Andre Watts give a brilliant performance of the third concerto. It is lively and buoyant. This is one of the few rare recordings of this concerto with Ozawa in New York. We dont have much on Ozawa and New York. I prefer the Vladimir Feltsman reading of this concerto with the Israel Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta. All in all, this coupling makes this CD a bargain to hunt for. You will not find a better Rachmaninov second piano concerto anywhere. Entremont's playing brings about ripples in a moonlit lake."