Track Listing

1. I. Allegro Agitato
2. II. Non Allegro - Lento
3. III. Allegro Molto

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #50824 in Music
• Released on: 2000-05-16
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered

Customer Reviews

One of the finest piano recitals on disc
I've had this recording since its original release on LP many years ago. But I retired my turntable years ago and hadn't heard this recital in perhaps 10 years. I happened across this CD today and was reminded all over again that this is perhaps the most satisfying piano recital disk I've ever heard.

Cliburn was pretty much amazing at anything he chose to perform, but his Rachmaninoff was always something special. A brief background on the recordings themselves. The Sonata No. 2 was recorded at a Moscow recital in the early 1960s by the Soviet Union's Meloydia. Because of this, the audio quality has the thin, somewhat tinny sound of most Soviet recordings of this era. It's by no means unlistenable, simply to the same standard as US and Western European audio engineering of the era. The remainder of the disk consists of studio recordings from the early 1970s and represent, if I'm not mistaken, Cliburn'a final studio recordings. The sonics on these are rich and full. Overall, the CD remastering sounds much better than I recall from the LP.

As for the performance - are are simply beyond reproach. On initial hearing, I'm simply astounded at the power and beauty of his tone at the piano, a quality that even the somewhat limited recording of the Sonata can't diminish. He shapes each piece loving, caressing a phrase here, accenting another phrase in a unique but ultimately convincing mannter.

With repeated hearings, new insights on the music emerge. Cliburn is always intent on keeping a primary melodic line in the forefront. But if you listen carefully, you will also notice that he never sacrifices the clarity of the inner voices. In short, he's really thought through his conception of each of these works and expresses to the listener. And he never got lazy, he always made sure every note was articulated as written.

If you're a lover of piano music, this disc has to be in your collection. You will listen to it again and again with repeated pleasure.

Ultra-Romantic Pyrotechnics
Rachmaninoff is my favorite composer - moody, lushly Romantic, austere, a little mystical. His early works are approachable only by the titans of the piano: Horowitz, Van Cliburn, or somebody of that caliber. Cliburn has a touch both powerful and intimate and appears to have mastered not only the physical demands of the music but has also grasped the emotional aspect.

Particularly impressive is the Second Sonata, an incredibly difficult work that the master himself rewrote at a later time so as to make the piece more accessible. Van Cliburn performs the original version which remains intensely emotional and a showpiece of Romanticism. The Prokofief with its driving rhythms and tympani-like architecture was another brilliant interpretation. were The sonority on this record is brilliant as it illustrates Cliburn at the height of his powers.

In my opinion, there has NEVER been a better recording of the immensely difficult Etude Tableau in E Flat Minor, the hardest yet most idiomatically "Russian" of the series. With its deep and brooding minor rhythms and soaring melodies it is akin to emotional paydirt. Van Cliburn performs the piece as marked - Appasionato. Oddly, the clapping (it was recorded live) only adds to the pleasure and intimacy of the music.

beautiful
I got this CD specifically for the Prelude in G minor. It's very easy to let this prelude get too fast and bangy, and listening to how Cliburn played it made me more aware of the musical possibilities and the beauty. Listening to him play it gave me the encouragement to keep on working at learning to play it well.