Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, etc.

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What emerges most obviously here is the keen poetic individuality of Ashkenazy as a Rachmaninov interpreter. The composer himself is far rougher with his music than Ashkenazy ever is. Those who... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Catalogue No: 4177022
Label: Decca
Length: 58 minutes

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Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18

Work length34:40

$3.30

$4.50

Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano)
London Symphony Orchestra
André Previn
Recorded: 1970-10-23
Recording Venue: Kingsway Hall, London

I. Moderato

Track length11:09

$1.10

$1.50

II. Adagio sostenuto

Track length11:56

$1.10

$1.50

III. Allegro scherzando

Track length11:35

$1.10

$1.50

Excerpt, Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43

Work length23:48

$1.10

$1.50

Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano)
London Symphony Orchestra
André Previn
Recorded: 1971-11-30
Recording Venue: Kingsway Hall, London

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Reviews

2010

What emerges most obviously here is the keen poetic individuality of Ashkenazy as a Rachmaninov interpreter. The composer himself is far rougher with his music than Ashkenazy ever is. Those who like Rachmaninov concertos to sound forceful above all will no doubt have reservations, but rarely has this work sounded so magically poetic. That isn't just Ashkenazy's doing – his rubato is consistently natural – but the work of Previn and his players. Orchestral detail emerges more clearly than on other recordings, but thanks to finely balanced orchestral recording (no exaggeration of big violin tone) there are no gimmicks.
The playing of both Ashkenazy and the LSO continually conveys the impression not of a warhorse but of a completely new work; even such a favourite passage as the return of the slowmovement main theme just before fig 26 is pure and completely unhackneyed. But the performance which clinches the success of this delightful venture is that of the Paganini Rhapsody, magical from beginning to end in its concentrated sense of continuity, with the varying moods over the 24 variations leading inevitably from one to another.
There's no great splurge of emotion on the great eighteenth variation, but instead there's a ripe sense of fulfilment, which is utterly tasteful. Although the final surprising quiet cadence could be pointed with more wit, the rest has so much delicacy that it's a marginal reservation.

Offer,Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, etc.

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