Search - Rachmaninoff, Weissenberg :: Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3; Bartok: Piano Concerto No. 2

The best Rach 3rd ever!!

Darin Tysdal | Bloomington, MN 55420 | 06/18/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD went out of print, just like the LP in the 1960's very quickly. Instead of re-releasing this CD, they have continually re-released Horowitz's recording with Ormandy and the NYPhil countless times! While that recording is certainly worthy, this one still is the best for me. I own 35 recordings of this piece, my favorite piece of music. It needs to be re-released with a better job done on its remastering. It is a very brash recording, but Weissenberg is a brash player. No one plays the end of this concerto like him-white hot and very exciting. He plays the smaller of the two cadenzas. No cuts, either! His re-recording of this work with Bernstein on EMI has never been released on CD and probably never will. It just was not as good as this one. The Bartok 2nd piano concerto recording is very good, but any performance except Jeno Jando's on Naxos will convince me that this is a great piano concerto. It just seems very trite, bombastic, and loud. I prefer No.1 by a longshot, as well as No.3. Lovers of the Bartok 2 will enjoy this recording, as every pianist who has recorded it has brought their own particular insights into it. I will hold on to this until RCA decides to re-release the Rachmaninov in a better remastering."

EXCELLENT

Peter Heddon | 07/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"EMI have reissued Weissenberg's Rach 3 as part of a box set devoted to this pianist.I'm no expert on recorded sound/remastering etc.but the dimwits (emi) managed to clip the opening note of the piece so it begins with something of a jolt!

yes,this is a remarkable perfomance....very original in conception and well worth hearing.Weissenberg's concerto collaborations don't always do him justice but there seems to be a chemistry here! the original review in gramophone by edward greenfield is hilarious as he's completely bewildered by Weissenberg's recording.

Bartok 2 is NOT trite as the other reviewer says!"