The new Telarc recording of the Tchaikovsky Concerto invites comparison with the Argerich/DG which has an identical coupling, rather than the Schiff/Decca (reviewed on page 884). What is striking in an A/B listening on CD is how much clearer the DG is than the Telarc, made in Watford Town Hall. The opening horn fanfare has more bite and the piano image on DG is splendidly firm and clear. On Telarc, while piano and orchestra are well integreated and the balance is natural, the whole sound is more opaque. There is also a heaviness in the bass, which tends to weigh down the rather ponderous end to the first movement, and the climax of the finale. For once, Jack Renner, the balance engineer has not judged the acoustic properties of the hall perfectly in setting up his ''few discreetly placed microphones'' to quote the soloist (see page 808).
The performance of the first movement is broadly spacious. Frankly the adrenalin does not run high although the lyrical elements are made to sound expressively poetic. Kimura Parker's articulation in the Andantino gives much pleasure and altogether this is an attractively intimate performance with the middle section more relaxed than usual, though offering less contrast when the accent is less on bravura than lightness. The finale goes well enough but taken overall this is not an account to set the blood racing. One feels that in his easy partnership with Previn, the soloist relaxes too much (witness the first movement cadenza which is very musical but hardly riveting).
The Prokofiev fares much better and the sound too is noticeably fuller than the Argerich (which dates from 1967), where the quality (often appropriately) has a touch of acerbity in the outer movements. I enjoyed Jon Kimura Parker's vigour, but in the first movement Argerich and Abbado (after a wonderfully ethereal opening) provide a tremendous forward thrust that the Telarc account does not match. Kimura Parker and Previn make a good deal of the slow movement variations, and the communication here is strong, but there is greater subtlety with Argerich and Abbado. This DG coupling remains a classic.'