Search - Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Nikolai Anosov, Kiril Kondrashin :: Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 2; Concert Fantasy

An Inspired Tchaikovsky Second

Thomas Gleim | Gaithersburg, MD United States | 01/31/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a magnificent recording. I just received it from Amazon this morning, and despite the fact that I also received several other recordings I've been waiting to hear, I just can't take this one out of the player.



I bought this for the Second Piano Concerto, which has been my favorite piano concerto since I was in high school, about 40 years ago. (Am I the only person on Earth who prefers the Second Tchaikovsky Concerto to the First?) Back then I had a really inspired recording of the work which made me really love it, and I played it over and over. I wish I could tell you who made that recording, but the info is long gone out of my aging gray matter.



As an adult, I've been trying in vain for at least 30 years to replace that childhood recording. Several recordings, first on LP and then on CD, have come and gone. But only today have I at last succeeded in finding one that makes me love the work the same way I did those many years ago. And this recording has the added advantage of being of the complete score (in fact, its first recording), not just Siloti's vandalized revision. The three recordings I actually kept of this are the Lowenthal/LSO/Comissiona (paired with the Third Concerto), the Glemser/Polish Radio & TV/Wit (also paired with the Concert Fantasy) and the Pletnev/Philharmonia/Fedoseyev (with the Concert Fantasy and both other concertos). These are all admirable recordings in modern sound, but, really, after hearing this one, I doubt that I'll ever listen to any of them again.



Suffice it to say that in the Second Concerto both Tatiana Nikolayeva and Maestro Anosov have the full measure of Tchaikovsky's magnificent score. They both seem positively on fire in the brilliant passages, delivering a reading of searing intensity. And Nikolayeva, even when she's thundering, actually plays rather than just pounding, the way some do. In quieter passages, she summons up a tender, poetic lyricism that warms the heart. What this playing has that so many other fine recordings lack is the elusive power of inspiration. And needless to say, the entire performance is idiomatically "Russian".



The Concert Fantasy is a rather trifling chip off the master's bench, but Nikolayeva and Maestro Kondrashin play it for all it's worth. It may not quite make you believe in the piece, but you'll enjoy it, and there probably isn't any more anyone could do with it. If it isn't on the level of the concertos, it's still an exciting little romp.



Is there any down side here? Well, okay, these are historical recordings, made in Moscow circa 1950. (The Concert Fantasy was first released as a set of 78 rpm records.) I found the remastered (monaural) sound to be just fine. Frequency and dynamic range aren't up to today's standards, and at times the orchestra is slightly congested. But there isn't anything about the physical sound that should stop you from enjoying these great recordings. If you can only tolerate the latest digital recordings and demand concert hall realism in your recorded sound, this probably isn't the disc you want.



The release comes with a booklet containing a well-written essay on Tatiana Nikolayeva and the history of these recordings (in English, French and German). I paid $21.98 for this from Amazon, but, to me, it was more than worth it.

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