Brahms: Piano Concerto No 1 [SACD]

Advantages: Mutter's eloquence and sensitivity in older recording are enhanced here.
Disadvantages: None at all!

...-Hungarian violin prodigy to modify the piece as necessary. (Brahms himself did not play the violin). Joaquim did so, and the piece finally premiered on January 1, 1879--to a confused and rather hostile reception (not unlike what would later greet the Tchaikovsky violin concerto). Pianist Hans von Bulow described it as a concerto not ?for the violin?, but ?against it?! Brahms tweaked it further until the piece finally saw publication months after its premiere. With such shaky beginnings, it might have been hard to imagine the work becoming one of the most beloved in the violin repertoire today. To be quite frank, the concerto did almost nothing for me at first. None of the musical themes appealed to me, buried as they were in the work?s complexity. It was hard to follow the melodic line, which was obscured by frequent shifts in rhythm and tempo. In... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: One of the most Romantic concertos around, full of beautiful melodies and passion
Disadvantages: over-recorded

...INTRODUCTION Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninov was one of the most promising composers emerging from Russia after Tchaikovsky. His early works included the youthfully energetic Piano Concerto in F sharp minor, Op.1, an orchestral fantasia The Rock, the opera Aleko, several songs, piano pieces (including the famous Prelude in C sharp minor, a work that would plague Rachmaninov with its popularity throughout his life) and the First Symphony in D minor, Op.13. Rachmaninov had high hopes for the latter; it was his magnum opus up until that time. However the symphony proved to be the biggest disappointment of his career, causing a tremendous crisis in his creative life. All the critics jumped on the work, most notably César Cui who compared it with the Seven Plagues of Egypt and condemned the work as modernist trash. The effect... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: None
Disadvantages: Poor interpretation, sound only adequate

...I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advance copy of this new disc from the Russian virtuoso Arcadi Volodos (UK release date October 2nd 2000). Sadly I was disappointed. The recording of Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano concerto is live and although the sound is perfectly adequate, it lacks the crispness and immediacy of a studio recording. Volodos is technically outstanding, but I feel that he's just going through the motions here, playing the notes with very little thought about what's behind them. It makes for a flat, emotionless and dull performance. The concerto is coupled with some of Rachmaninov's shorter solo piano pieces, which are better, but still not outstanding. If you're a huge fan of Volodos, you might want to buy this to add to your collection. If you want to hear a decent recording of Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful