Tchaikovsky: Concerto No. 1/Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 2: Fritz Reiner: Amazon.ca: Music

1. Concerto 1 - Allegro Non Troppo E Molto Maestoso

2. Concerto 1 - Andantino Simplice

3. Concerto 1 - Allegro Con Fuoco

4. Concerto 2 - Moderato; Allegro

5. Concerto 2 - Adagio Sostenuto

6. Concerto 2 - Allegro Scherzando

Product Description

Amazon.com essential recording

What a story there is behind this recording! When Van Cliburn won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow at the height of the Cold War with his playing of this concerto, it created an international sensation. The recording followed immediately thereafter, and Cliburn was launched on an international career of unprecedented celebrity for a classical musician. Perhaps the attention was too much, too soon, given his subsequent burn-out and retirement from public life. Fortunately, we have these unique recordings to document what was, by all accounts, a genuine phenomenon. This is the disc "heard 'round the world." --David Hurwitz

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Customer Reviews

26 Reviews

5 star:		(20)
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Average Customer Review

4.6 out of 5 stars (26 customer reviews)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Heaven on Earth, May 7 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Tchaikovsky: Concerto No. 1/Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 2 (Audio CD)

There are no words to describe this CD accurately. It is, by far, the greatest recording of the Tchaikowsky concerto ever made, by the greatest pianist in the world. (If you disagree about the pianist part, I beg your pardon :)
I recently had the wonderful privilege of hearing Van Cliburn live, at Chrysler Hall in Norfolk, VA. He played the Tchaikowsky concerto, and I've never been so thrilled in my life. Though even the live performance didn't match up to this recording.
The Tchaikowsky is played with a passion and sincerity so beautiful and genuine that it makes your heart ache. The Rachmaninoff has all the gusto, fire, and flair that you could ever wish. Five stars is not a high enough rating for this CD - an unbelievable recording.

If you don't have it, get it so you'll find out what you've been missing!

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I knew the pianist, Oct 2 2001

By

W. D. Cavanaugh (Kentwood, La.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tchaikovsky: Concerto No. 1/Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 2 (Audio CD)

Nina Plant Wideman was a great friend to Van Cliburn, and she was my teacher. When I got the opportunity to meet Van at a concert in Shreveport, his graciousness completely overwhelmed me. He spent over an hour after the concert talking to me and invited me to come back for the concert the next day. He met me on that next day at the door of the New Civic Theater and took me to a place behind the curtains where I could stand during the performance. I would not be seen by the audience from this vantage point, but would get to watch his hands from no more than 10 feet away. Many years later, one of my cousins met Van in Seattle and mentioned that he had a cousin who had played with the Shreveport Symphony and Van called me by name. What a prince of a man. His hands and heart gave us a great gift. I heard this fabulous recording before it was made into a CD (at Mrs. Wideman's home), and I hope the man is doing well.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Amazingly well played, not-so-well recorded, Mar 13 2004

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Kevin P. Costello (Riverside, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tchaikovsky: Concerto No. 1/Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 2 (Audio CD)

This is a historic recording, featuring Cliburn's performance of the Tchaikovsky 1st (which helped win him the gold metal in Moscow) and Rachmaninoff's 2nd concerto.

An adjective I would use to discribe Cliburn's playing here is 'thoughtful'. He has an amazing talent for bringing out melodies and voices that get lost in the bustle of many other performances of this concerto. Although he takes some passages at a slower tempo than I've heard elsewhere, the payoff is that the listener gets to hear in exquisite detail each voice and melody in the piano portion of the concerti. This is one of the best played performances out there of these works.

Unfortunately, it is not quite so up there in terms of the recording quality. The problem isn't so much with the sound (which is perfectly clear) as with its balance. As one reviewer already remarked, there is a tendency to focus on whichever instrument is carrying the solo/melodic line at the moment, making the other parts much less audible by comparison (both for the piano as soloist and various instruments in the orchestra).
If only the engineers had brought the same clarity and balance to the voices in the orchestra as Cliburn brought to the voices in the piano part, this would be my ideal recording.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Full of passion
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