Sergei Rachmaninov; Sergei Prokofiev - Piano Concertos No. 3 (Van Cliburn)

Information

Composer: Sergei Rachmaninov; Sergei Prokofiev

1. Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30: I. Allegro ma non tanto
2. Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30: II. Intermezzo. Adagio
3. Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30: III. Finale. Alle breve
4. Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26: I. Andante - Allegro
5. Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26: II. Theme and Variations
6. Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26: III. Allegro ma non troppo

Van Cliburn, piano

Symphony of the Air
Kirill Kondrashin, conductor (1-3)

Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Walter Hendl, conductor (4-6)

Date: 1958, 1960
Label: RCA

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 7 / SOUND QUALITY: 8

Van Cliburn’s live 1958 Rachmaninov Third Concerto from Carnegie Hall makes its first appearance in RCA’s Living Stereo line. Its three-track incarnation gives a stronger sense of venue ambience over the boxy-sounding two-track mixdown most recently made available in Philips’ deleted Great Pianists line. Even so, unattractive aspects of John Pfeiffer’s closely miked production remain, such as unrealistically spotlit solo instruments. I also suspect that there was not much “after-the-fact” editing, given the tiny performance inaccuracies and ensemble glitches.

Cliburn’s patient, lyrical approach to the score provided a refreshing alternative to the fire-and-brimstone standard favored by pianists under Horowitz’s spell. At the same time, Cliburn’s huge hands most assuredly grasp the composer’s massive chords and serpentine textures. I’m not certain if this was the first commercial Rachmaninov Third recording to dispense with the composer’s “traditional” cuts (save for the tiny incision of a superfluous repeated figure in the first-movement cadenza), but it was the first to incorporate the heavier, chord-based first-movement cadenza that most pianists now favor (wrongly, to my mind).

Kyrill Kondrashin’s firm, steadfast conducting transcends the Symphony of the Air’s spottier aspects (the brass, for instance) in the Rachmaninov, but I wish Fritz Reiner’s Chicago Symphony Orchestra had been on hand. And I also wish that Cliburn’s Chicago recording of the Prokofiev Third had been led by Kondrashin. Compare his pointed, colorful support of Byron Janis on Mercury to the workaday professionalism with which Walter Hendl and the Chicagoans support–yet hardly inspire–Cliburn, and you’ll hear why I consider this performance very good but not in the class of Janis/Kondrashin, Katchen/Kertesz, Graffman/Szell, and Argerich/Abbado. Sonically speaking, of course, its present three-track incarnation is beyond cavil.

-- Jed Distler, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Oct05/rachmaninov_cliburn_82876678942.htm
http://www.allmusic.com/album/release/rachmaninov-concerto-no3-prokofiev-concerto-no3-mr0002059038
http://www.amazon.com/Rachmaninoff-Piano-Concerto-No-Prokofiev/dp/B0009U55QU
http://www.amazon.com/Rachmaninoff-Piano-concerto-no-3-Prokofiev/dp/B000003EOW

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sergei Rachmaninov (1 April [O.S. 20 March] 1873 – 28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He is widely considered as one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music. Some of his works are among the most popular in the romantic repertoire. His style is notable for its song-like melodicism, expressiveness and his use of rich orchestral colors. The piano is featured prominently in Rachmaninoff's compositional output, and through his own skills as a performer he explored the expressive possibilities of the instrument.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Rachmaninoff

***

Sergei Prokofiev (23 April, 1891–March 5, 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor. As the creator of acknowledged masterpieces across numerous genres, he was one of the major composers of the 20th century. Prokofiev wrote seven completed operas, seven symphonies, eight ballets, five piano concertos, two violin concertos, a cello concerto, a symphony-concerto for cello and orchestra, and nine completed piano sonatas, many of which are widely known and heard. He also enjoyed personal and artistic support from a new generation of Russian performers, notably Sviatoslav Richter and Mstislav Rostropovich.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Prokofiev

***

Van Cliburn (July 12, 1934 – February 27, 2013) was an American pianist who achieved worldwide recognition in 1958, at the age of 23, when he won the inaugural quadrennial International Tchaikovsky Piano Competitionin Moscow at the height of the Cold War. He had a grand Romantic, expressive style of playing with golden rich, round tone and a singing voice-like phrasing, having been taught from the start to sing each piece. Van Cliburn toured domestically and overseas. He played for royalty, heads of state, and every U.S. president from Harry S. Truman to Barack Obama.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Cliburn

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks

Links in comment

Enjoy!