For Rach Sonata 1 fans

[Klaus]

He fucking drops a full bar in the coda! I can't believe it. One of my favorite bars in the whole piece.

Fourth bar in this excerpt.

Also, most of those low acciaccatura octaves in the fff part are missing, too!

WTF was he thinking? I want my money back.

[jon-nyc]

And his final chord is weak AF.

I know. Go back and watch Berezhovsky play the ending. It’ll do you some good.

Link to video

[Klaus]

I remember an occasion with Berezovsky around 12 years ago or so. I know a friend of Berezovsky very well, and he managed to get us into the practice room at Alte Oper in Frankfurt in which Berezvosky warmed up right before his concert, which happened to be Rachmaninoffs 3rd PC that evening. That poor Steinway received a quite remarkable beating. Bordering on rape. It was pretty cool to watch/listen.

[kluurs]

I'm not an expert on the Rach Sonata 1 though I enjoy listening to the work. Rachmaninov is pretty durable, and I enjoy different versions of works for different reasons.

Take the Rach 3. Two of my favorite versions might be Gavrilov/Muti and Horowitz/Rodzinski but I enjoy Barto/Eschenbach for a poetic reading and Jorge Luis Prats with Enrique Bátiz and the Mexico City Philharmonic - for an amusing and passionate version - though hardly a "definitive" performance. It was if the 26 year old Prats and Batiz decided that if you're going to do something different - why not go full out. The last part of the 3rd movement always makes me chuckle. BUT it isn't a performance that I'd say keeps to the composer's intentions. OTOH, It is fun. Pletnev is one to leave "his" mark on performances - again trying to do something different.

[SD Tav]

Pletnev is sleepwalking through this performance. Really strange. But, I do like a lot of his previous recordings. My favorite Rach 1 performances remain Weissenberg, Ashkenazy, Lugansky and Sergio Fiorentino. The latter performance is fiery although a little shaky in places. Understandable given the enormous technical difficulties in this piece.

[Doctor Phibes]

I've never really liked Rachmaninoff.

There. I said it.

[Klaus]

For a second I thought I had seen somebody write that he or she doesn't like Rachmaninoff.

Ridiculous, I know.

[Doctor Phibes]

Apparently, he suffered from depression for most of his life.

If I had to listen to it as much as he did, I would, too.

[Klaus]

Speaking about Berezovsky, today I discovered this live recording:

Link to video

Playing three concertos in a row is rather insane. I've never seen that elsewhere. Maybe this is supposed to be a revival of the Anton Rubinstein concert culture?

[SD Tav]

@Klaus It's nice to hear the Scriabin Piano Concerto. A rarity that deserves more performances. I liked the Prokofiev 1 concerto, especially the last few pages. Exciting. My favorite recording is the one by Andrei Gavrilov.

[kluurs]

I'm a fan of Berezovsky - enjoy his performance of the Beethoven concerti with he did a few years back. I had to wait years for the cycle to be completed and issued.