BaL 9.01.21 - Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto no. 3 in D minor

[cloughie]

Goodness me, that is stinging criticism from the normally charitable Ted.

I can’t think think of any Weissenberg recording that got a good reception in Penguin Guides.

He tends to be a soloist I avoid!

[Nick Armstrong]

One of my favourite concertos, one that would certainly find a place on my desert island. I own / have heard many on the list.

I started with the Argerich, and loved it - need to hear it again, as lately I find I’ve gone off Argerich’s approach to many pieces. I love Tamás Vásáry’s way with it (but it’s a pity the accompaniment is a bit dull). I’ve recorded many off-air - current favourite is Simon Trpčeski, but somewhere I have a stunning version by Sunwook Kim in a live concert with the Bournemouth Orchestra under Karabits.

Two most memorable live performances: Trifonov at the Barbican, and (if anything even more stirring), Abduraimov at the Proms.

It’ll be fun to hear what DON makes of it (and mildly interesting to hear his conclusions ).

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This seems to me to be a pretty extraordinary performance by an up-and-coming 18 year old:

[Ein Heldenleben]

Seen him play it and other things. He's a terrific artist with great personality (his encores are often great fun)

Never seen him do Rach 3 . I did see him do the C minor at the QEH during the RFH refurb. Although he played beautifully a combination of the acoustics and Rachmaninov’s over thick orchestration drowned him out a bit in the tuttis....

[cloughie]

Many good recordings of this concerto - two good recordings by Byron Janis, the Munch on Victrola my introduction to it.

[Keraulophone]

One of my favourite concertos...
This seems to me to be a pretty extraordinary performance by an up-and-coming 18 year old:

One of mine too. Thank you for this link. Wow! I was hooked from the first bars right to the end. Alexander Malofeev is certainly one to watch: a formidable young talent, and the Russian youth orchestra played brilliantly too. When I’ve recovered, and after several espressos, I think I’ll have to watch it all over again. I see his Rach PC2 is also on YT, recorded when he was just 15: https://youtu.be/0CW6cxApOBg

[Nick Armstrong]

Alexander Malofeev is certainly one to watch: a formidable young talent, and the Russian youth orchestra played brilliantly too.

I’m glad you enjoyed it so much; and I agree, he is. (I liked the useful pronunciation guide in the opening announcement, too!). His YouTube channel has a lot of good stuff. The Rachmaninov 2nd Sonata was just posted, I think I noticed; and I’m happy he’s championing Medtner.

[TalktoAudience]

What did you think?
You've made me want to dig it out and listen again before Saturday.
I first heard of Weissenberg when I got his recording of Prokofiev 3 and the Ravel G major on LP; they are part of the 'introuvables' box set that includes the Rachmaninov.

It's a certainly bravura performance. I'm not really qualified to give a review but there's probably not enough Rachmaninov in there for it to be considered. I have the Rachmaninov/Ormandy, Ashkenazy/Previn and the Argerich/Chially which is my personal favourite.

I saw Alexander Malofeev (mentioned by Nick Armstrong in another post) play this with Juraj Valcuha and the Slovak Philharmonic in February of this year. It's a was a bit more of a languid performance than the Youtube video but I doubt if I will ever hear it played better in person.

https://stream.filharmonia.sk/video/?v=KS202002071900

(Incidently the Youtube Malofeev was his first performance of the work).

[Pulcinella]

It's a certainly bravura performance. I'm not really qualified to give a review but there's probably not enough Rachmaninov in there for it to be considered. I have the Rachmaninov/Ormandy, Ashkenazy/Previn and the Argerich/Chially which is my personal favourite.

I saw Alexander Malofeev (mentioned by Nick Armstrong in another post) play this with Juraj Valcuha and the Slovak Philharmonic in February of this year. It's a was a bit more of a languid performance than the Youtube video but I doubt if I will ever hear it played better in person.

https://stream.filharmonia.sk/video/?v=KS202002071900

(Incidently the Youtube Malofeev was his first performance of the work).

It certainly comes across to me as a very personal interpretation, but I don't really like the piano sound, so I won't be returning to it often; happier with Ashkenazy/Previn, though I too feel unqualified to comment, as I do not 'know' (to use a word that is gaining currency at present, with Mario's (Auferstehen's) new thread) the work well enough, even though I can sing along like everyone else!

[muzzer]

Marvellous, thanks for the treasure trove of recommendations, I never need an excuse to hoover up another recording of this piece.

[Nick Armstrong]

I saw Alexander Malofeev (mentioned by Nick Armstrong in another post) play this with Juraj Valcuha and the Slovak Philharmonic in February of this year. It's a was a bit more of a languid performance than the Youtube video but I doubt if I will ever hear it played better in person.

https://stream.filharmonia.sk/video/?v=KS202002071900

(Incidently the Youtube Malofeev was his first performance of the work).

Many thanks for this link. Fascinating to have two performances for direct comparison. I haven’t had a chance to watch all the Slovak performance you were at, but the opening and your word “languid” highlight a key factor for me (it will be interesting to see if DON makes reference to it in tomorrow’s BAL): the pace of the opening. I’m sure it was different in the hall, but the initial tempo strikes me as pedestrian. The YouTube performance has an impetus which I find altogether more involving, there’s a tension and an electricity right from the start.

In general in recordings of this piece, I’ve found that languishing and losing the momentum anywhere in the piece is pretty fatal to my enjoyment. I’m reasonably sure all the performances that do it for me (see earlier post) are relatively brisk with deft rather than wallowing rubato passages.

That said, I completely get that the Slovak performance was terrific live on the night. I seem to remember thinking on the night that the Proms performance by Abduraimov mentioned in my earlier post was more “languid” and heavy tempo-wise than I’d have been happy with in a recording - but it was nonetheless overwhelming.

[Barbirollians]

I have been listening to the Earl Wild/RPO/Horenstein account. Extraordinary virtuosity but I can hear what David Fanning meant when he said it impresses more as a sporting achievement than a musical one.

[gurnemanz]

I have been listening to the Earl Wild/RPO/Horenstein account. Extraordinary virtuosity but I can hear what David Fanning meant when he said it impresses more as a sporting achievement than a musical one.

I acquired this recording via the Brilliant Classics Rach box a few years. It's one reason why I might not be looking for another - Kocsis/de Waart is another.

[BBMmk2]

I have a fair few of this concerto! Martha Argerich, Marc-André Hamelin and Mikhail Rudy.

[Barbirollians]

I think I own nearly all the contenders except Hamelin and Kocsis.

[Goon525]

Hough/Dallas/Litton the winner.