Rachmaninoff: The Must Have Recordings

[Bogey]

Just spun this one. Bill, you gotta get it!!

Beyond the vinyl I have George of this No. 2 paired with the Six Preludes?

[George]

Beyond the vinyl I have George of this No. 2 paired with the Six Preludes?

Sorry, I forgot.

[Bogey]

Sorry, I forgot.

However, point still taken.  If I see the cd used for 6 or 7 bones, I will grab it.

[George]

However, point still taken.  If I see the cd used for 6 or 7 bones, I will grab it.

FYI - the image I posted is of the best CD mastering of that concerto.

[Herman]

Aparrt from the very popular concertos 2 &3 , the discography of Rachmaninov's piano works is surprisingly small. What I mean is that not so many complete recordings, for instance, of his wonderful Preludes exist by great pianists such as Perahia and Argerich.

Perahia doesn't perform any late-romantic repertoire like Rachmaninoff, and Argerich doesn't do any completes.

That being said Rachmaninoff is still considered to be a speciality, and there are plenty of pianists who wouldn't touch his music, just because they don't like it.

[raduneo]

I am trying to find a good recording of Rach 3, and I feel like something different from the Ashkenazy/Previn I started out with; I tried Volodos since it was getting lots of praise but don't find it energetic/virtuosic enough, I do not like Argerich since I feel that the major climax of the first movement is NOT done well (which in my mind is a monumental moment in the concerto).

Any thoughts for a good (non-historical!) recording of this concerto, where you really feel the energy and the incandescent fire (which I believe is part of the core of this concerto) ??

Any help would be appreciated!!

[Drasko]

I am trying to find a good recording of Rach 3, and I feel like something different from the Ashkenazy/Previn I started out with; I tried Volodos since it was getting lots of praise but don't find it energetic/virtuosic enough, I do not like Argerich since I feel that the major climax of the first movement is NOT done well (which in my mind is a monumental moment in the concerto).

Any thoughts for a good (non-historical!) recording of this concerto, where you really feel the energy and the incandescent fire (which I believe is part of the core of this concerto) ??

Any help would be appreciated!!

Well, all my favorites are historical, but you could try Kocsis, he is as far as you can get from Ashkenazy. Fast and furious but in a more controlled, less nervous way than Argerich. His orchestra struggles a bit, but not detrimental.

[Cato]

I am trying to find a good recording of Rach 3, and I feel like something different from the Ashkenazy/Previn I started out with; I tried Volodos since it was getting lots of praise but don't find it energetic/virtuosic enough, I do not like Argerich since I feel that the major climax of the first movement is NOT done well (which in my mind is a monumental moment in the concerto).

Any thoughts for a good (non-historical!) recording of this concerto, where you really feel the energy and the incandescent fire (which I believe is part of the core of this concerto) ??

Any help would be appreciated!!

Well, if it is in stereo, is it non-historical?

My absolute favorite over the years is by Byron Janis, either the RCA recording with Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony, or on Mercury "Living Presence" with Antal Dorati and the Minnesota Orchestra.  The playing by Janis in the cadenza of the first movement in the RCA is incredible.

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[Josquin des Prez]

Didn't he recording some of his own music? That ought to qualify, i would think.

[raduneo]

I received your message Cato. Thanks!

Thanks you both of you! I will make sure to try both Jando and Kocsis. I ordered the Kocsis actually (since I enjoy the youtube version I'm hearing very much). It turns out I already had the Jando version on Mercury!

I will report back once I have listened to them more carefully. This is afterall the Piano Concerto that made me fall in love with classical music in the first place. (this was a bit over 2 years ago) I couln't believe that there existed in music such intense moments as that cadenza in the first movement!

[raduneo]

Didn't he recording some of his own music? That ought to qualify, i would think.

Well his recordings are historical, so technically they do not qualify to what I asked. But I will make sure to listen to them more carefully; now that I can do that with "better developed ears", it should get something different out of it I believe.

[Lisztianwagner]

Vladimir Ashkenazy is my absolute favourite interpreter of Rach's music, incredibly expressive, passionate and thrilling both as a pianist and as a conductor; when I have to buy some recordings of Rachmaninov's works, Ashkenazy's versions are my first choices.
Vladimir Horowitz, Martha Argerich and Sviatoslav Richter are outstanding interpreters as well, but about this music, I think Ashkenazy is a little step forward.
Some of my favourites CDs, absolutely beautiful:

 
 

[BobsterLobster]

My essential desert-island Rachmaninov recordings:

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But I'm also rather fond of the following:

Any Rachmaninov transcriptions by Heifetz, and other violin transcriptions from albums such as:

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Any Rachmaninov pieces played by Horowitz!

Transcriptions by Volodos such as from the songs and from the slow movement of the Cello Sonata

The Rachmaninov pieces on Yuja Wang's latest CD are superb: [asin]B006WXW098[/asin]

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[Josquin des Prez]

Well his recordings are historical, so technically they do not qualify to what I asked.

I suppose you are trying to avoid historical recordings because of the poor sound quality then? A lot of people tend to keep a line of separation between historical recordings and modern ones also due to certain specific ideas about the performance and interpretation of music which were peculiar of those specific times, which a lot of people today do not find agreeable. But this ought not to be the case here, since we are talking about the composer performing his own music. You can't get more definitive then that.

[BobsterLobster]

The Byron Janis performance of Rachmaninov's   Third Piano Concerto (on RCA, if you can find it) is another must have!  The first movement cadenza in his hands is something to behold and contemplate!

I hadn't listened to this version so I just checked it out... ouch, it's quite a mess IMO, particuarly the 1st movement cadenza, fistfulls of wrong notes everywhere. The tempos are all over the place, conductor and pianist can't seem to agree the speed, it's all a bit too sloppy for my taste.

I'm listening to the 1st concerto now though, and I think his 'exuberant' style suits this concerto much more.

[Cato]

I hadn't listened to this version so I just checked it out... ouch, it's quite a mess IMO, particularly the 1st movement cadenza, fistfuls of wrong notes everywhere. The tempos are all over the place, conductor and pianist can't seem to agree the speed, it's all a bit too sloppy for my taste.

I'm listening to the 1st concerto now though, and I think his 'exuberant' style suits this concerto much more.

I have always found the interpretation of the cadenza by Janis to be thrilling!

And to be sure, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Alexis Weissenberg are no slouches: the latter even resembled The Rach!

[George]

My favorite for the Rachmaninoff Etudes Tableaux for years has been Ogdon on Testament. Angelich is more refined, more beautiful, while still powerful when called for. Thus, he will likely become my new favorite. This lovely CD should be added to the "it's a damn shame it's OOP" list. :sigh: If you see it in the bins, grab it!

[Rhymenoceros]

For the preludes:

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[Staxxx]

I would like to add a couple of recommendations too....from the 60+ recordings that I must have of Rachmaninov's works. The Melodiya release (in pretty good sound too) of Yevgeny Mogilevsky with Kondrashin playing the Piano Concerto No. 3 and the Rustem Hayroudinoff Chandos CD of the Preludes in terrifically recorded piano sound ...one of my desert island discs.
Sorry I am not sure of how to post the album cover art or else I would have, in line with the other replies.

[snyprrr]

This is an earlier issue of the one that I recommended. I also have the Olympia issue, which was the first issue of these great performances, but more expensive:



http://www.amazon.co.uk/Richter-Vol-7-Rachmaninov-Piano-Works/dp/B0000260HD

The last time I tried getting started with Rach, this was the cd 'you all' basically told me to get,... which I just haven't gotten around to, though, coming from a Liszt listening spree, I though Rach must have things that I like.

For 'Solo Piano' ONLY, what might snyprrr respond to? If I think it sounds too much like... mm, salon?,... I mean,... I NEED modern sound,... and I generally respond to well planned recitals by the ultra-virtuoso,... one would really want ultra-virtuoso here, no?,... just to get the 'magical' thing, the effortless flying?

aye communication breakdown

I really liked Volodos's Liszt on Sony,... but he doesn't have a typical solo Rach cd that comparable, right? Angelich?