The playing is superb, but the audio quality is too good to be from Rachmaninov's time. Not even AI can clean an old audio recording to sound this crisp. So it's not Rachmaninov playing Rachmaninov, it's someone else.
So sad that I missed him 😭 I would have loved to have heard him live and maybe be lucky enough to tell him of how much joy his music has brought to my Heart 👍
Thank you! but both conductor and orchestra must be added to the description of this wonderful recording! Philadelphia Orchestra, conductor Eugene Ormandy. Recorded December 4, 1939 and February 24, 1940 (Philadelphia, Academy of Music).
He escuchado varias versiones de distintos ejecutantes y... Esta es en verdad descriptiva, sensitiva y real. En la mayoría escuchas a una orquesta que exprésamente espera en todo momento al solista, como es común y esperado. Pero en esta! ... En esta percibo el murmullo del mundo que corre como un río... a veces avasallante, a veces más discreto, a veces gritando fortísimo o callando despacio, discimulado siempre a su ritmo... Y encima un ejecutante que camina a la par de las mismas preguntas que plantea la gran mayoría... Es un ir, de a poco, o rápido por colinas y valles a veces amplios, a veces estrechos... Pero ir hacia un mismo destino... Estos dedos definitivamente saben exactamente hacia donde van.
I can really feel his annoyance with how he plays it. For a while he lets the notes drone uncomfortably long, as if his arms grow physically tired from having to play a piece he knows painfully well off the back of his head by that point. Playing the song in this slow, sloppy style really tells you that he is waiting for the song to end, and the song itself is waiting to end so that it may no longer torment neither its masters fingers nor the hammers of the piano that has been chosen to play it upon.
"Rachmaninoff's 'Elegie' possesses an authenticity and spontaneity in its sound. It stands as a testament to his genius as one of the world's greatest pianists." Rachmaninoff is god.
I’m really intrigued that he rolls those chords in the opening of the first movement. He famously had a huge stretch of something like a 15th (?) so I’m guessing it’s a choice to do it. So, that puts that discussion to bed; if Rach can roll ‘em, so can we!
Уже больше полувека единственный, в чьем исполнении я могу слушать и жить этой музыкой - это Сергей Васильевич Рахманинов. Конечно, он гений, остальные таланты.
He wrote it jut before he went to the US to give some concerts but he didn't have time to learn it so he took a dummy keyboard on with him and learned it on the boat.
Interesting cuts that we are not used to in modern recordings, apparently Rachmaninov was anxious to tighten recording times as much as possible ... Interesting also to hear how the orchestra (supposedly the Philadelphians under Eugene Ormandy) have a rough time keeping up with his tempo ...
Surely recordings such as these are ripe both for being preserved 'as is', as well as bing processed with modern technology in order to bring out the full sound?
We are very fortunate to have recordings of the great maestro performing. Any inspiring concert pianist can listen to Rachmaninoff live recordings to check their own interpretation of his music. My biggest problem with Rachmaninoff is no rich snob came forward to provide financial assistance when he escaped Russia from their revolution, thus he had to perform a lot just to pay his bills. Tchaikovsky had a financial supporter that allowed him to spend most of his time composing and thus created such great works. Had just one Rockefeller or Carnegie come forward, Rachmaninoff could easily have penned 4 or 5 more symphonies and concertos. Those wealthy people took their money to their graves. Nobody will remember their money. Had they financed Rachmaninoff then they could have taken those melodies to their graves and left behind a mark on the world. The world will remember Nadezhda von Meck, who funded Tchaikovsky's efforts through most of his best productive years of his life. Nadezhda von Meck hired Claude Debussy as a music tutor for her daughters. In February 1880, Nadezhda von Meck came to the assistance of the Polish violinist Henryk Wieniawski. Tchaikovsky, as a sign of appreciation, dedicated his Symphony No. 4 to Nadezhda von Meck. In 1985 Galina von Meck donated to Columbia University a collection including her translation of 681 letters written by Tchaikovsky to his family. The collection covered the period from March 1861 to September 1893. One of the musicians Nadezhda von Meck supported was violinist Iosif Kotek, with whom she played chamber music. Nadezhda von Meck also gave financial support to several other musicians, including Nikolai Rubinstein and Claude Debussy. Nadezhda von Meck put her money to good use and as a consequence the musicians she supported left behind a legacy the world enjoys. But can you imagine if just one rich cat came forward and helped Rachmaninoff, how much classical music repertoire we would have today? When Prokofiev escaped to America, he too was in financial stress. Rachmaninoff came to his assistance. Rachmaninoff was indeed a fantastic person to be revered.
