Search - Sergey Rachmaninov, Paul Anthony McGrane, Lake Forest Symphony :: Santiago Rodriguez plays Rachmaninov

Accomplished bravura performance

04/12/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This recording was highlighted by the recently updated Penguin Guide, and deservedly so. However, there are a number of things that stop it getting 5 stars.The highlight of this album is undoubtedly the Third Piano Concerto. Rodriguez puts in a bravura performance which, whilst fast, avoids vanishing into a stream of notes like Argerich. Indeed in the quickest passages one cannot help but wonder at the sheer lyrical quality of his playing. The orchestra, whilst not being particularly well known, provides able support throughout.
There are a couple of slightly annoying problems with the recording though; Firstly, there is a large amount of coughing heard during some of the quieter parts in the first movement. Second, at the end of the third movement, the quality of the sound changes quite a bit, I suspect that a microphone on the audience was switched on in order to record the applause, unfortunately this makes listening to the recording via headphones an ultiately flattening experience.As for the other pieces, the Elegy is well played and draws immediate comparisons with Rachmaninov's earlier Romantic influences. However a lot of the rest of the playing is slightly wooden, this is especially so in the final B flat minor prelude - probably the most dramatic solo piano composition - which is rendered slightly heavy handedly.In conclusion, buy it for the recording of the Piano Concerto."