Iāll be watching these guys live on Thursday, canāt wait!
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Some time ago Grammophone rated this version of 2 as best, so tonight I gave a listen.
Though I like the Valentina Lisitsa/London recording for itās superb recording
technicalities and orchestra/piano balance, this one is also really good. Krystian and Ozawa show lots of sensitivity here and I enjoyed it very much. I also like the Lisitsa/London concerto 1.
Do others here have a favorite Rach. 2 or any of the 4 he composed?
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I havenāt listened to the Zimerman yet, but Iāve read glowing reviews of it, so I need to try it. Rach 3 is one of my favorite concertos so I tend to forget the others exist.
My favorite Rach 3ās are by
Janis (with Dorati & the Minneapolis Symphony) who also plays a very good 2nd concerto too IMO.
Argerich (with Chailly & the RSO Berlin) when I want a bit more energy.
Hamelin (with Jurowski & the LPO) when I want a more modern recording and am in the mood to be dazzled by Hamelinās lightning-quick fingers.
Ashkenazy (with Previn & the LSO) because Ashkenazy was my gateway to Rachmaninov and has a special place in my heart.
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@PaisleyUnderground Thanks for the ideas. That final cadenza is incredible isnāt it! Yuja Wang has a 3rd with Dudamel as well.
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Popped up on my YT. I plan to watch later, but thought Iād share.
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AMHD says a June 2023 release. Big Yuja fan here, lol.
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Newest Yuja video. Donāt see her break a sweat very oftenā¦mustāve been
some hot lighting, lol. She continues to amaze me.
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We all have favorites. This is one I really enjoy. Grimaud/Salonen/Dresden.
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I havenāt heard this one. Iāll try it and let you know what I think.
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Sheās a Philly adopted daughter; Curtis Institute.
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Okā¦hoping for some fun and sharing and new finds here! Beethovenās Sonata 14ā¦āMoonlight.ā First movement.
Whatās your favorite? combining interpretation and recording qualityā¦separate
if necessary.
I play Some piano, but not well. However my Mom played and I have always loved the grand pianoās many sounds and love concertos as well as solo pieces. I actually sold pianos for a few years and got to play a variety of brands.
This Barenboim version is one I likeā¦good recording with only appropriate natural reverb, not an echoey hall. I also like his musical sensitivityā¦playing with the tempo and using mini rubatos a bit, as well as hitting some notes appropriately softer (than some others Iāve heard)ā¦eg. around the 3:30 to 4 mark. Timbre sounds natural as well, though that depends a LOT on the gear
chain used as much as the recording itself, lol. Goā¦
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Haha! I use AMHD for streaming, but Youtube for sharing references, like some others. YT being what it is tossed this at me. A very quick synopsis and opinion if youāre interested. The Mozart connection is new to me.
I havenāt heard a lot of different interpretations of Beethovenās sonatas. I bought Richard Goodeās complete set back in the day, mainly because I was a huge fan of his Mozart piano concertos, but it was also well reviewed, so I stopped there. But youāve prompted me to try some others.
I like the Barenboim, although it sounds like the mic was placed at some distance from the piano. Or perhaps I needed to turn up the volume LOL.
After sampling various pianists, I stumbled across Alfred Brendelās complete set from the 70s and was surprised at how much I liked it. Iāve never been a huge fan of Brendel before, but thereās something captivating about his playing, very fluid, with just the right tempo, and I kept listening to more and more sonatas by him. I think the recording quality is very good, and the tone is nice and warm. Brendel recorded the complete set 3 times, so it can be hard to know which set youāre listening to. The one I listened to was his second attempt at recording the sonatas and I found it in a compilation called āBeethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas & Concertosā.
My other favorite was by Igor Levit. Completely different style of playing, very high energy, and the tempo was often very fast, so I would imagine that this set is polarizing. But this was another set where I didnāt stop at the Moonlight, and just let it play.
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@PaisleyUnderground Wow, didnāt expect anyone (you, lol) to go looking for
new ones, but those are two I havenāt heard so Thank you!
Valentina Lisitsa has done a full set as well. Havenāt found one by Yuja though, which I think would be interesting!! Gorgeous, exciting, amazing writing tho, eh?
https://music.amazon.com/albums/B08P6678YV?trackAsin=B08P67Z4PQ&ref=dm_sh_54b0-4c92-dd8c-5087-d11f3
Edit: Brendelā¦instant like! Good recording and some āmagicā in his playing.
Thanks!!
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Iād be interested in your views of the Levit sonatas. My initial reaction was that he was playing much too fast, but once I got used to it, I enjoyed it as a change of pace to Brendel.
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I was lusting after some isolation products of a brand Iād never heard of before (lol), and on their website were some recommended recordings. I did a bit of searching and found a Beethoven album by Yusuke Kikuchiā¦
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Levit is next on my list. PS I like some of Lisitaās, but in typical fashion, she often is a speed demon, eg. the third movement of this #14. I sometimes like a faster
tempo on pieces, but it can cause a loss of note separation and, imo, some
musicality. I know I started this for the first movement for brevity, but I have found that the 2nd mvt. scherzo really shows off differences of touch and interpretation.
Itās always fascinated me that we tend to prefer the version we heard first or
grew up with as ārightā even though others may be considered ābetterā later or by others.
@hifiDJ Iāll ck that one out, thanks. I see this is from Apple Music. Did you try
their new lossless format? If so, how do you feel about the layout they bought
from Primephonic and, most important, the sound quality? Is it still available only
on ios? Primephonicās organization, categorization and search was SO much
better than others Iāve tried.
I agree, I found this out by accident, and started using the second movement to come up with my initial short list to listen to in full.
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I actually donāt have Apple music. His album wasnāt available on YT for sharing so I just went to the iTunes (still like that name) page so people could preview easily, if so desired. I usually buy digital or CD but I do have tidal, and itās not all that great for classical organization
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