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

[Alison]

Have to say I much prefer the big chordal cadenza, with Pletnev just about my favourite account. Cuts elsewhere in his performance rule it out for a library version.

https://youtu.be/Ik-wpo-qIsM

[BBMmk2]

Oh I have a few of this mighty work. Argerich/Chailly, Ashkenazy/Previn, Rudy/Jansons. Off the top of my head. My favourite has to be Argerich though. I have others.

[ostuni]

I remember hugely enjoying the Argerich/Chailly recording when I first heard it, many years ago. When I started my detailed listening last week (see #80), I listened again; my conclusion was that it would have been truly thrilling as a live concert, but Argerich's rushing ahead of the orchestra (especially in the finale) made it too uncomfortable for repeated listening: once you've seen those moments of untogetherness when following a score, you can’t unhear them. Well, that’s how it works for me, anyway - evidently for David Fanning, and many others, it doesn’t!

I feel much the same as does DON, mentioned towards the beginning of his review, about pianists slowing down too much for the 'big moments': like him, this has made me discard the several Ashkenazy versions - though again, these have many fans. But I think one thing that had rather put me off Rach 3 as a piece was that I had the feeling that it had a tendency to drag on too much. But DON's review encouraged me to listen properly to Kocsis's version (no hanging around here!), and those other versions (Andsnes, Shelley) in my #80: these versions have helped me to really enjoy the piece at last.

[Barbirollians]

Charity shop buy Ashkenazy/Ormandy on RCA Papillon CD . What a firecracker of a performance and how those Philadelphia strings sing - better than with Previn, Haitink and Fistoulari excellent as they are especially the latter.

This had passed me by but I now note it was Richard's first choice at the top of this thread.

[pastoralguy]

Yes - he said it concentrated on showiness to the complete exclusion of Rachmaninov’s musical values or something similar and his only pleasure in reviewing it came from listening to Ashkenazy and Fistoulari as a comparison.

I remember the EMI recording he made with a young Anne-Sophie Mutter of the Brahms and Franck sonatas where he was heavily criticised for not following the composer’s dynamics.

[richardfinegold]

Charity shop buy Ashkenazy/Ormandy on RCA Papillon CD . What a firecracker of a performance and how those Philadelphia strings sing - better than with Previn, Haitink and Fistoulari excellent as they are especially the latter.

This had passed me by but I now note it was Richard's first choice at the top of this thread.

Glad you discovered it!

[Barbirollians]

Glad you discovered it!

It's an absolute belter of a performance. Only the live Argerich/Chailly is on the same excitement level IMO amongst non-historical recordings ( composer. Horowitz/Barbirolli) .

[mikealdren]

I bought the Ashkenazy/Ormandy LP when it first came out on the strength of the Gramophone review but I never really took to it, must give it another spin.

[Keraulophone]

Charity shop buy Ashkenazy/Ormandy on RCA Papillon CD . What a firecracker of a performance...

I snapped up the original RCA Red Seal issue as it was half price (£1.49?) for a limited period and my student grant easily covered that! As my first recording of the work, it made a huge impression and still earns its place on the shelves.

A pity there was no recording equipment around when organist George Thalben-Ball gave the first performance in England in 1915 at the RCM aged just 19.

[Barbirollians]

I bought the Ashkenazy/Ormandy LP when it first came out on the strength of the Gramophone review but I never really took to it, must give it another spin.

Has to be said piano tone a bit shallow and clangy but Ashkenazy’s playing overcomes that for me .

[smittims]

Rachmaninovians owe a dept to Ashkenazy in that he seems to have been the first person to play and record the concerto absolutely complete. Even Gilels ' Columbia recording , made in Paris, has some small cuts. But after Ashkenazy's first disc with Fistoulari it seems to have been obligatory to play the whole thing.

Having come to know the work complete I find any cuts disappointing, as they involve some lovely passages. Of course, to some extent the composer was responsible in agreeing cuts, though the most-cut of all is the first recording with a young Horowitz and Albert Coates.

[richardfinegold]

Rachmaninovians owe a dept to Ashkenazy in that he seems to have been the first person to play and record the concerto absolutely complete. Even Gilels ' Columbia recording , made in Paris, has some small cuts. But after Ashkenazy's first disc with Fistoulari it seems to have been obligatory to play the whole thing.

Having come to know the work complete I find any cuts disappointing, as they involve some lovely passages. Of course, to some extent the composer was responsible in agreeing cuts, though the most-cut of all is the first recording with a young Horowitz and Albert Coates.

Rachmaninov frequently cut his own music in performances, most notoriously in the Corelli Variations. If he felt that the audience was getting bored he would leave several of them out. That of course would be difficult to do on the fly with a concerto. He also made cuts in at least one of his Piano Sonatas and in the Piano Trio that memorializes Tchaikovsky.
There is quite a history of performers restoring cuts in music that were sanctioned by the composer-any number of Bruckner symphonies, Vaughn Williams London Symphony, Mahler Blumine all come to mind besides Rachmaninov

[Lordgeous]

I snapped up the original RCA Red Seal issue as it was half price (£1.49?) for a limited period and my student grant easily covered that! As my first recording of the work, it made a huge impression and still earns its place on the shelves.

A pity there was no recording equipment around when organist George Thalben-Ball gave the first performance in England in 1915 at the RCM aged just 19.

Thalben-Ball playing Rachmaninoff?! Do tell us more...

[Barbirollians]

The Pennario/Fiedler Paganini Rhapsody with which it is coupled is superficially exciting but doesn't do the music any favours . I doubt I will be listening to it often 0 unlike the Ashkenazy/Ormandy account of the concerto.

[smittims]

Although I never met George Thalben -Ball, I used to attend his weekly organ recitals in Birmingham Town Hall , where apparently a local by-law obliged him to give a free recital every week. A highlight for me was his rendering of Franck's A minor chorale, a favourite, which suited that organ well.