This is easily the best of Sviatoslav Richter's three commercial recordings of Tchaikovsky's B flat Concerto—a big, uncompromising account, delicate in part and always thoughtfully phrased. Mravinsky moulds a taut, warmly cultivated accompaniment; indeed, his artful shaping of the orchestral score serves as an ideal foil for Richter's muscular pianism. It's a strong, fairly well recorded contender amongst a plethora of charismatic rivals, more consistent than Richter's Czech recording under Ancerl and more spontaneous than his famous (and fascinating) Viennese excursion under Karajan.
Emil Gilels also recorded the work with Mravinsky, rather less successfully as it happens (a live performance), although the conducting itself provides much to hold the interest. Gilels's version of the Second Concerto under Svetlanov (also available on Olympia) is flamboyant, playful and hard-hitting, with a doggedly emphatic, crisply articulated finale. However, turn to his 1959 live recording with the USSR Symphony under Kyrill Kondrashin and you might as well be listening to a completely different pianist. Not only are tempos consistently faster (both performances are cut, by the way), but the solo playing has a headstrong, easy virtuosity that provides maximum contrast with the later account's equally arresting but rather more affected personality. In fact the two Gilels performances are about as different from each other as both are (in overall style) from Richter's classically integrated performance of the First Concerto.
BMG's transfer of the Richter recording is fairly similar to the one which has already appeared on an identical Chant du Monde coupling (8/88—nla). However, the newer transfer of the Gilels tape is much the better of the two, with far more presence and a notably higher play-back level. Pianists and piano-fanciers will certainly want this CD, but do try, if you can, to compare the Gilels Second Concerto with his (sonically inferior) Kondrashin recording: I cannot think of another instance where a great pianist has made quite so many radical alterations to his basic interpretation. Listening to the two performances consecutively makes for a riveting and instructive musical experience.'