Search - Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Artur Rodzinski, George Szell :: Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1

Breathtaking and poetic

06/21/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the long-awaited 1953 Horowitz scorcher of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1. George Szell was said to have told the pianist to play at whatever tempo he liked, Szell and Co. would follow. They sure did follow! The keyboard virtuoso did not disappoint. The 3 movements have a daredevil bravura that was never repeated since as Horowitz never performed this Concerto again unlike his Rachmaninoff 3. The virtuosity is certainly breathtaking and sometimes to the point of being technically superb but losing the musical point altogether especially in the slow movement where Rubinstein does it better. The final cadenza by Horowitz is about the same as the 1940 version with Barbirolli on APR. Overall, the 1948 performance with Bruno Walter on Music & Arts seems more balanced and poetic. Well, Rubinstein may be behind the Russian in terms of technical terms, he makes it up with his singing tone."

Great Performances, but...

04/19/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"What a super idea--side-by-side performances of the same concerto by the same (New York Philharmonic) orchestra featuring (IMHO) the two greatest classical pianists of the 20th century under the batons of two legendary conductors. Predictably, neither performance disappoints; Horowitz gives an electrifying, over-the-top display of virtuosity, while Rubinstein--though much more sedate--is equally thrilling, displaying an elegance that can't fail to enchant. And just as boxing fans speculate about "dream" matches (say, Ali vs. Tyson) that will never, for one reason or another, materialize, one can't help but wonder if these two geniuses could have been harnessed their respective talents in tandem for the purpose of performing this piece as its alter ego, a work for two pianos.
These aren't recent works, and so can't be held to current standards of recording fidelity; indeed, it's interesting to note how much improved the recording quality of the 1953 Horowitz recording is over that of the Rubinstein, which is a mere seven years younger. However, I've taken off a full star because it seems that not only was there no effort whatsoever to remove surface noise and tape hiss (I suspect that the Rubinstein transfer was taken from vinyl rather than a taped master), but the unbelievably irritating presence of a woman's CONSTANT hacking in the audience made me want to travel back in time to hand her the box of cough drops she should have had the foresight to bring and then drag her out by her hair. Incredibly distracting!
I paid a pitifully small amount for a used copy of this, however, research reveals that its list price is quite high. On that basis, Palexa should have put a lot more effort into cleaning it up; genius deserves no less than champagne treatment."