Bournemouth SO/Karabits/Hough from the Colston Hall, Bristol

[RobertLeDiable]

Have just found my VHS tape of Hough and Osmo Vänskä with BBCSO playing the work at the 2005 Proms. Seems to have much more attack and decisiveness about it. Glad I kept the tape. However, Krystian Zimerman's performance is still favourite.

I've come rather late to this discussion. The orchestra at that Prom would have been the BBC SSO, I believe, not the BBC SO.

Rachmaninov's 1st is my favourite among his concertos too. I think the composer's own recording is still the one that most sets my pulse racing, though as I remember Richter's is pretty good. Many years ago, when I were a lad, the concerto was included in one of the sequences of records that the BBC regularly played to the TV test card - I think in the mornings. Having heard it once, I used to switch on our TV almost every Saturday morning in the hope of hearing it, though I had no idea what it was, and every now and then I was rewarded and never tired of it. It wasn't until many years later that I found out what it was. I never knew which recording they used (and in truth, there wouldn't have been many available in the 50s) but the sound I remember was very like Rachmaninov's own recording, though it could conceivably have been Richter's.

I'm slightly surprised anyone thinks it would be appropriate for Mr Katin to comment on a public forum on a recent performance by a professional colleague. I'm sure he's too much of a gentleman to do such a thing.

[Sir Monty Golfear]

I've come rather late to this discussion. The orchestra at that Prom would have been the BBC SSO, I believe, not the BBC SO.

Rachmaninov's 1st is my favourite among his concertos too. I think the composer's own recording is still the one that most sets my pulse racing, though as I remember Richter's is pretty good. Many years ago, when I were a lad, the concerto was included in one of the sequences of records that the BBC regularly played to the TV test card - I think in the mornings. Having heard it once, I used to switch on our TV almost every Saturday morning in the hope of hearing it, though I had no idea what it was, and every now and then I was rewarded and never tired of it. It wasn't until many years later that I found out what it was. I never knew which recording they used (and in truth, there wouldn't have been many available in the 50s) but the sound I remember was very like Rachmaninov's own recording, though it could conceivably have been Richter's.

I'm slightly surprised anyone thinks it would be appropriate for Mr Katin to comment on a public forum on a recent performance by a professional colleague. I'm sure he's too much of a gentleman to do such a thing.

Very interesting that Richter recorded the concerto. Yours is the first reference to it. I agree totally with you about asking one professional to comment on another's performance. It wouldn't be the done thing, unless you were living in the days of Horowitz and company !.
The Naxos recordings of the composer playing his concertos , I find riveting.

Cheers

SMG

[Nick Armstrong]

The Naxos recordings of the composer playing his concertos , I find riveting.