My wife and I got to see a performance by Andre back in 1981 at Ravinia and got to meet Mr. Watts after. My professor at college knew Mr. Watts personally so he sat w us. Very nice and down to earth.
This is the benchmark performance for this work. It has majesty, poetry and absolute virtuoso brilliance all wrapped up into one. I remember his live performance of this piece from Avery Fischer Hall back in the late 1970's. It inspired me to learn and perform the work in college.
How amazing this pianist can perform a post romantic work that way ! Strength, contrast, everything is helping music.nothing is about showing off, a greaaaaaat performance ever.
Some of the variations rubatos are a little 'out of balance'. People say that Rachmaninoff is the best interpreter of his music, however, the Ruth Laredo recording from 1980 is perhaps the model for this piece. This piece is quite tedious and takes a very experienced musician to play well. Thank you for this upload!
