|
|
Tarfumes.com - Prokofiev, Ravel: Piano Concertos, etc / Martha Argerich
|
List Price: $11.98
Our Price: $10.99
Your Save: $ 0.99 ( 8% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
|
Average Customer Rating:  
|
|
Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0028944743821
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Deutsche Grammophon
Release Date: 1996-05-14
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
|
|
|
|
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
|
This is the original Prokofiev/Ravel concerto coupling as it appeared on LP; the Prokofiev has also been coupled with the Tchaikovsky First Concerto. I prefer this edition since superb performances of the Ravel are less common. The young (1967) Martha Argerich plays the Prokofiev for maximum brilliance but leavens the Ravel with the composer's ironic lyricism. It's very effective. The bonus is one of the greatest performances of the Ravel piano suite ever recorded, but it leaves me wondering what will happen to the remainder of the original LP. All those solo Ravel pieces should be in the catalog; as Argerich plays them, they offer a primer on what keyboard color is all about. --Leslie Gerber
|
|
|
Spotlight customer reviews:
|
Customer Rating:
Summary: treasured
Comment: I won't go at length about this CD's every refinement, but the Adagio assai on ravel's concerto is easily the best I have ever heard. It is possibly the best collaboration between orchestra/conductor and the pianist of any work. Abbado and Argerich just clicked. It's magic. That does not come along often, even with the masters.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Easily one of the finest releases of the Deutsche Grammophon catalog
Comment: It's criminal that Deutsche Grammophon waited almost thirty years to reissue these excellent recordings as a Compact Disc edition. Never mind the middling late Karajan discs or all this overwrought Lang Lang tripe that they're defecating into mass-production these days - this 1967 release is the finest of many stunning collaborations between Argerich and Abbado at the distinguished helm of the BPO.
The first of the two piano concertos on this disc is Prokofiev's third, and it's undoubtedly one of the best performances of both Argerich's and Abbado's respective careers. The performance ebbs and flows naturally with note-perfect precision and vibrant (but never overstated), colorful dynamics. Argerich has a keen understanding of any composer's more playful sensibilities, which is why her intuition has always been especially insightful when interpreting repertoire works that express wit by the likes of Prokofiev. Cliché as it is, the only complaint that one could direct at this recording is that it's too short - after three thrilling, relatively brief movements, one is left breathless, but wanting even more. If a better performance of this work has been committed to disc, I'm not familiar with it. Argerich's 1998 recording (paired with Dutoit and the MSO) is good but inferior to this, and the Prokofiev/LSO/Coppola recording available from Naxos suffers from the deterioration of its' source; due to the poor quality of the latter recording, many aspects of that terrific performance are impossible to evaluate.
The recording of the Ravel piano concerto is almost as exhilarating as that of the Prokofiev concerto, for all the same reasons. Both pianist and orchestra tackle the amusing inventions that Ravel invested in this remarkable piece. The three part form of the second movement is especially well navigated, something that can't be said of many other performances of this composition.
The expanded storage capacity of the CD format permits another recording in addition to the two of the original Prokofiev/Ravel LP: Argerich's amazing 1974 performance of Ravel's "Gaspard de la nuit." If any recording presents this composition as the one of the most difficult of the standard repertoire and Argerich as one of the finest pianists of her generation, it's this one. Both technically and expressively, it is almost incomparably superb, only surpassed by Pogorelich's brilliant interpretation. Argerich exhibits a curious insight pertaining to Ravel's unique, macabre adaptation of Bertrand's poem, and her execution of what Ravel called a "caricature of romanticism" does this insight justice. The speed and tonal color produced in her performance of the infamously difficult "Scarbo" movement is almost inhuman, and must be heard to be believed. This recording was originally released on LP along with numerous other excellent Ravel solo piano works such as "Valses nobles et sentimentales" and "Sonatine." Most of those other recordings are available on different DG compilations, and the inclusion of "Gaspard" succeeding the two concertos on this disc feels appropriate.
It should be mentioned that DG might regain some of its' straying audience if the label chose to reissue DVDs of the many excellent live performances and music videos that it released over the course of its' long and storied existence, as opposed to worthless, pretentious albums by pop star morons-turned-fake classicists like Sting and Elvis Costello. The music videos for this disc's recording of "Gaspard de la nuit" were especially interesting - curious little films that capably presented symbolist iconography related to the source material as well as video footage of Argerich's light-speed fingers. I've seen enough of these videos in poor quality on YouTube to know that a sufficient number of them exist to pad out a DVD that any sighted Argerich fan would be willing to view and probably pay for.
Like most of the discs in DG's "The Originals" reissue series, the remastering of these recordings is adequate, but hardly exceptional. The original recordings of the concertos were a bit too bright (almost harsh), and the remastered versions amend this while rendering the soft passages a bit too subdued. Overall, this is a fair trade-off. At the cut price, you can't possibly go wrong with this phenomenal release.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Miraculous!
Comment: The collaboration between Argerich and Abbado is impressive. Argerich is at her best. A must for your classical collection.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The young Argerich--fresh and completely without affectation
Comment: The few complainers about this famous recording have slipped fra down the list here at Amazon, and what's striking is that the things they hate about Argerich (mannered phrasing, overly aggressive attack, rushing, banging) are the very things we don't get here. Ms. Argerich can display a reckless, hectoring style, but at her best--as here--she's full of imagination, wit, and an uncanny ability to see beneath the surface of the score.
I can only second everyone else's high praise for the Prokofiev and Ravel concertos, which are spellbinding, as well as for her Gaspard de la Nuit, which is staggeringly virtuosic and original. Abbado conducts with gusto and style, if not the greatest nuance, and only the somewhat dated sonics detract (marginally) from a recording that has remained in print for forty years.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Beautiful rendition
Comment: The piano concertos by Prokofiev and Ravel are played brilliantly and the quality of the recording is all right, though it could be better (which cost this recording a star). A real treat, both Argerich and the orchestra show great timing and dynamics.
Both sound and interpretation of Gaspard de la nuit do not match the recording by Alexandre Tharaud (Ravel: l'oeuvre pur piano). Still I wholeheartedly recommend this album.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
