Track Listing

1. Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso
2. Andantino simplice
3. Allegro con fuoco
4. Moderato; Allegro
5. Adagio sostenuto
6. Allegro scherzando

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38543 in Music
• Released on: 2004-09-14
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Hybrid SACD

Customer Reviews

Excellent restoration of this vintage recording
I literally grew up on this recording (the Cliburn Tchaikovsky). I have easily played it over a 100 times if not closer to 200. I am very happy to report the SACD version is the best that will ever be available for this recording. The original master tapes were 3 channel, so that is how it is presented here...left, center, right...but no surrounds. This anchors the piano in the middle (the piano is not all from the center however). This release is much better than the previous CD release. Having that center channel to anchor the piano makes a big difference. There is hardly any tape hiss either. My only reason for 4 stars instead of 5, is because this is a 1958 recording, the low end is not quite there....but the quality of the piano for this year is quite good.

This is probably as good as the recording can get.
The sound of this SACD is less impressive than the other Living Stereo DSD remasters I have heard - this is almost certainly due to the fact that the original tapes were not as well done as the others, and not because of poor mastering. In fact, this is probably as good as the sound of this recording can get. It certainly bests any of the regular CD editions that have been produced over the years, and lets not even talk about my ancient mouldering LP!
Preserving the original three channel recording is a grand thing, and defineatly adds to the presentation - the only thing is that YOU have to have a sufficiently large listening room to fully appreciate it (to allow the three speakers to have enough distance between each other to get the most out of it). Without the proper space, the spatial imaging will to some degree be lost.
Regardless of this though, if this recording is important to you, then this is the edition to have beyond a doubt.

As for the performances, they are classics and you certainly can't go wrong with them - though I wouldn't say they are the 'best' for either of the respective pieces. For the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto N.2, my personal favourite is Reiner's other earlier (1956) recording with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra but featuring Artur Rubinstein as the soloist. Now there is a performance that is truly exciting, that really plays out the piece's romantic core to the fullest - both orchestra and soloist producing a rich passionate sound, bringing out the innate russianness of the music, truly bringing alive its inner meaning.

As it should be
In years past, I had never been able to embrace Van Cliburn's famed Tchaikovsky Piano Conerto #1. Poor sound reproduction on previous cd releases just did not allow the power of this incredible performance to shine through. All that has changed with this RCA Living Stereo Hybrid SACD edition. The brillantly improved sound and the enhanced spatial seperation on this version makes Cliburn's Tchaikovsky #1 a whole new listening experience. This is how this recording was meant to sound; this is the definitive edition of this monumental performance. Do not hesitate to add this release to your classical library, even if you own any previous incarnations of this record. This is one for the history books & a sure must have!