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

[ardcarp]

Saturday morning heaven

DON doing Rach 3 (what insights) and Summerly summing up the Barpque. Both, IMV, such good reviewers allowing Andrew's interpolations to be minimal.

[DracoM]

Yup............DON smacks 'em most of the time!

[oddoneout]

DON doing Rach 3 (what insights) and Summerly summing up the Barpque. Both, IMV, such good reviewers allowing Andrew's interpolations to be minimal.

Interruptions?!

[gradus]

You’ve very acutely summed them up - two more amazing technicians but just the way Rachmaninov shapes the opening melody...what a musician.
In contrast , not played , the Weissenberg/ Bernstein opening weirdly accented and total disagreement on the tempo!

Shame that Ashkenazy received only passing comment, something about being too 'purple' - an offence committed by Kissin too apparently - as well as playing the slow movement too slowly, certainly not a view I share.
Good though to see Stephen Hough at the head of the field.

[Frances_iom]

I'm old enough to remember D O N when he had a weekly slot on the 'drive time' programme now taken over by an Irish windbag - D O N was always entertaining and often went to a studio grand to illustrate a point.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Shame that Ashkenazy received only passing comment, something about being too 'purple' - an offence committed by Kissin too apparently - as well as playing the slow movement too slowly, certainly not a view I share.
Good though to see Stephen Hough at the head of the field.

When it comes to Rachmaninov I think purple is a pretty good colour and I love the way Ashkenazy plays him. His recording of the Preludes still one of my favourites , ditto the Sonata....

[Nick Armstrong]

DON doing Rach 3 (what insights) and Summerly summing up the Barpque. Both, IMV, such good reviewers allowing Andrew's interpolations to be minimal.

Recorded on the bedside DAB so it’s going to be Sunday morning heaven here

[ardcarp]

See you there?

[vibratoforever]

I love willfulness, especially in Rachmaninov. The Trifonov echoes what Svetlanov provided in his final symphony cycle.

More importantly, David Owen Norris did a brilliant job with a survey that encompassed the historical and the modern.

[CallMePaul]

The Hough complete Rach concerti CDs are £23 (Amazon )or £16 for the FLAC download / Cd from Hyperion

I found it about 3 years ago for 99p in a Leeds charity shop! It is the only version I have. Rakhmaninov is not one of my A-list composers so this satisfies my needs and am pleased to see it come out on top.

[Pianoman]

I found it about 3 years ago for 99p in a Leeds charity shop! It is the only version I have. Rakhmaninov is not one of my A-list composers so this satisfies my needs and am pleased to see it come out on top.

Could have been my copy...

[mikealdren]

I have a few fine performances on disk that didn't get mentioned but they're old so I'm not too surprised (Byron Janis, Lazar Berman, William Kappell). The recent performance that I rate highly is Volodos, he invariably seems to make memorable recordings.

[richardfinegold]

TBH I didn’t really hear anything that would incline me to buy anything else. Wang sounded her usual technician self and Trifonov somewhat wilful.

The Trifonov didn’t do much for me...I see no reason to move on from Rach, Ashkenazy, Earl Wild, and Byron Janis

[Nick Armstrong]

Kocsis ordered on basis of what we heard.

Yes, that was the one I didn’t know which made my ears prick up, and which I’ve already cued up on Qobuz. Having heard the first movement, it’s definitely the sort of performance I prefer: momentum from the start and quicksilver pianism.

The Hough version I didn’t know either: will definitely have a listen to the whole thing on the “Extra” programme on Sunday evening.

I enjoyed this survey, as always with DON. Great to be reminded that the sort of urgency and tension I think makes a performance is very much how the composer appears to have preferred it from his own recording.

DON’s comment about the relative difficulty (or not) of the piece reminded me also that I used to hang out with a concert pianist, with whom I went to see the film Shine - there’s a lot of talk in the film about how “the Rach 3” is the Everest of concertos, the most difficult ever written &c. &c. I remember my friend snorting and saying ‘rubbish’ - for him, the Schumann concerto is the most difficult in the repertoire.

Could have been my copy...

Didn’t fancy the Hough then, Pianoman?

[ardcarp]

the Schumann concerto is the most difficult in the repertoire

.

I can't quite compute that the Schumann requires more digital acrobatics than the Rach.
I've actually conducted the Schumann with a chamber orchestra and professional soloist, but can't quite imagine 'getting away with' Rach3 and the same forces.