Rachmaninov Piano Concertos
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Sergey Rachmaninov
Label: DG
Magazine Review Date: 2/1995
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 76
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 439 930-2GH
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 |
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Claudio Abbado, Conductor Lilya Zilberstein, Piano Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer |
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 3 |
Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Claudio Abbado, Conductor Lilya Zilberstein, Piano Sergey Rachmaninov, Composer |
Author: Bryce Morrison
Still they come. The Rachmaninov Concertos notably Nos. 2 and 3, gain rather than decrease in popularity, and Lilya Zilberstein's distinguished partnership with Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic is an impressive reminder of just how seriously today's younger pianists particularly if they are Russian—take their Rachmaninov. After her recent fluent but less than fully idiomatic Debussy and Ravel recital (see page 72) Zilberstein is clearly back on home ground. A word of warning will not, however, be out of place for virtuoso fanciers. These are hardly the sort of performances where one tempts visiting friends and listeners with this or that tit-bit (a flashing cadenza, a hell-fire finale and so on). In grandly aristocratic style Zilberstein's mastery eschews all obvious display and you take her dignified and integrated approach whole and complete or not at all. True, some listeners may yearn for a little more flexibility in the Adagio's achingly romantic phrases (Second Concerto), secretly or openly longing for a more roseate nostalgia. Yet how superbly Zilberstein and Abbado forge the Concerto's very opening, how surely they pace the same movement's final meno mosso. The build-up towards the climax of the development is thrilling and purposeful and the finale's concluding maestoso is an imperial experience.
My misgivings, such as they are, occur more in the Third Concerto. Again Zilberstein always allows the composer his own voice, yet is her first entry in the ''Intermezzo'' like ''dark pearls flung on velvet'' (a fanciful description prompted by an altogether more potent and characterful player)? At 3'20'' and 7'44'' respectively, her scherzando and decorative flight are a trifle staid (try Gilels, an altogether more ardent and high-flying virtuoso, in the former). Those in search of a transcendent rather than worthy experience will look elsewhere, to Gilels and, should your taste lie that way, to Horowitz's wickedly teasing and demonic recordings on RCA. On the other hand DG's new recording is magnificently balanced, creating a darkly glittering tapestry of sound and Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic could hardly be more acute or sympathetic partners. Those interested primarily in the Second Concerto should certainly winkle this disc out from a dauntingly long list of alternatives.'
My misgivings, such as they are, occur more in the Third Concerto. Again Zilberstein always allows the composer his own voice, yet is her first entry in the ''Intermezzo'' like ''dark pearls flung on velvet'' (a fanciful description prompted by an altogether more potent and characterful player)? At 3'20'' and 7'44'' respectively, her scherzando and decorative flight are a trifle staid (try Gilels, an altogether more ardent and high-flying virtuoso, in the former). Those in search of a transcendent rather than worthy experience will look elsewhere, to Gilels and, should your taste lie that way, to Horowitz's wickedly teasing and demonic recordings on RCA. On the other hand DG's new recording is magnificently balanced, creating a darkly glittering tapestry of sound and Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic could hardly be more acute or sympathetic partners. Those interested primarily in the Second Concerto should certainly winkle this disc out from a dauntingly long list of alternatives.'
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