Search - Sergey Prokofiev, Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Alexander Lazarev :: Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1; Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3

THE performance to own of the Prokofiev 3rd Piano Concerto

Arts Lover Karen | California | 02/22/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Prokofiev Concerto has been recorded by many, but never so thrillingly as here. The surrealistic quality of parts of the second movement are lovingly realized by Judd, and the third movement is in a class by itself.



It is this final movement that varies so much from one performance to another, one assumes because of the devilish series of rapidly cascading chords near the ending which often determine the approach to the entire movement. Van Cliburn takes it at a plodding tempo throughout, one that is excruciating to listen to. Ashkenazy uses a crisp tempo and renders the passage cleanly. But this live performance by Judd beats all. He begins at a stunning pace, stretching the meter elastically for the slower and more expressive passages before returning to the tempo of the main motifs. As he approaches the most difficult part of this finale he SPEEDS UP, an effect that to a listener familiar with the music is akin to watching a train heading over a cliff. The effect is breathtaking, and when Judd continues through this difficult passage and on through to the end at breakneck speed it is not to be believed.



The drama and artistry of this performance are forever captured in this recording, live from the finals of the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow. Though the recording quality is typical for the period (1970s) and not always correctly balanced, the impassioned and insightful performance supercedes the lack of audiophonic perfection."