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Sergei Rachmaninov: The Ampico piano rolls 1919-1929 Click here for an Inktroduction CD Reviews: Rachmaninov Plays Rachmaninov & A Window In Time
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The just-released, latest-in-line of Ampico piano roll recordings, this recording utilises the latest techology in reproducing pianos, explained in detail by Wayne Stahnke in the sleeve liner. The Bösendorfer is characteristically mellow with a rich resonant bass and clear treble. With its breadth of sound, you won't be able to distinguish this from a studio recording made by Rachmaninov in real time.
The pieces are however not arranged in order and may be designed, I suspect, to give a more programmatic flow of music, starting with the dramatic opening chords of the Prelude in C-sharp minor and ending with the patriotic Star-Spangled Banner.
A definitive introduction to Rachmaninov the pianist, and you won't be sorry you got this one. For those of you who already own the Ampico recordings on ADD or mono discs but are not satisfied with the quality, this may be the solution to the headaches you get everytime you listen to an old recording.
ADD recording, performed on a specially-adapted Estonia 9' concert grand. Recorded at Kingsway Hall, London, in 1978-79.
The repertoire in this recording is essentially the same as that in the Telarc disc, but with the pieces in order of opus and transcriptions at the end. It omits the Minuet from Bizet's L'Arlesienne Suite.
The Russian piano, an Estonia 9' concert grand, owned and adapted by Norman Evans, has a brighter sound and more bite to the tone, which I personally find more exciting and gives a dated but a rather more 'live' feel (after all, Rachmaninov is supposed to have been dead for 55 years now).
Decca never fails to fascinate me with the clarity and excellent quality of these 20-year-old analogue-to-digital remasters. This disc would be good for those who can appreciate a closer feel of the playing. Novice and picky collectors beware: this recording still isn't as luxuriantly comfortable as the Telarc disc and may sound bony to those who cannot stand remasters.
A Window In Time: Rachmaninoff performs his own piano works
TELARC CD-80489 [65'12"] full-price
20-bit digital master made on a Bosendorfer 290SE Reproducing Piano; realised by Wayne Stahnke. Recorded on August 27 1996 at Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Centre, Los Angeles, California.
Rachmaninov plays Rachmaninov: The Ampico Piano Recordings
DECCA Historic 425 964-2 [59'15"] mid-price
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The Right Hand of Rachmaninov |
Telarc and Decca CDs can be ordered in Singapore from Sing Discs (Raffles City), Tower (Pacific Plaza and Suntec City), Borders (Wheelock Place) or HMV (The Heeren).
Is the pianist playing, or is the piano playing? Soo Kian Hing wonders...
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The Second Piano Concerto - Recordings Survey Part
I Concerto Reviews: Piano Concertos Nos.1-4 by the composer
himself, Sergei Rachmaninov (Naxos Historical)
Piano Concertos Nos.1-4 with Vladimir
Ashkenazy (Decca)
Piano Concertos Nos.1-4 with Idil Biret
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Piano Concertos Nos.1-4 with Peter
Rösel (Berlin)
Piano Concertos Nos.1-4 featuring Earl
Wild (Chandos)
Piano Concertos Nos.2 & 3 with Japanese
pianist Noriko Ogawa (BIS)
Chamber & Piano:
The "Elegiac" Piano Trios with the Borodin Trio (Chandos)
Music for Two Pianos: Suite No.2 op.17,
Russian Rhapsody, and Symphonic Dances. With pianists Dmitri Alexeev
and Nikolai Demidenko. Also features music by Medtner
Orchestral Works: Orchestral Works (Decca Capbox set)
The Isle of the Dead and the Symphonic Dances A classic recording by Vladimir Ashkenazy
The Ampico Rolls 1919-29 An Inktroduction with Recordings Recommendations
The Symphonic Dances and the Day of Wrath
An Essay