Search - Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Dmitri Kitayenko, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra :: Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1; Violin Concerto

Magnificant Playing by One of the Finest Young Talents

Robert Kirsch | 07/25/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Akiko Suwanai may not have the best accompaniment - the orchestra seems to lack a certain degree of passion in the first movement. However, like a leader inspiring her troops, Suwanai soon pulls the orchestra along in the coattails of her brilliance. It's not hard to see why Suwanai won the Tchaikovsky competition; her playing is extraordinary. Her playing is not clipped, scratchy, forced, or overzealous. She has a strictly lyrical touch that is ideally suited for Tchaikovsky's violin concerto, and with careful precision to boot. The only disadvantage to this recording is that it is live -- however that is more than made up for by the piano concerto played by another gem of a performer, pianist Boris Berezovsky."