Rachmaninoff Conc 2 Mercury Living Presence

Having tired of the safest recommendation, Previn/Ashkenazy, I finally settled on the Rubinstein/Reiner. From '56 I believe? Not a blockbusting recording, but gorgeous, silky strings, very sensible presentation or orchestra and soloist and Rubinstein IMHO strikes a perfect balance between poise and indulgence. Wild is shockingly detached and expedient, (but listen to Rachmaninoff, even more so!) Janis similar but less-so, Cliburn is tasteful but unimaginative. Katchen/Solti so feverish as to be distracting. I find Richter a little "fussy" too, must "something be said" even in the climactic reprise of the Finale's theme? Then there's Ashkenazy/Kondrashin: still a little too much on the "poised" part of the meter for my taste.

Rtilden: Thank you for your reply, I had a few "glasses" and in retrospect wasn't as articulate as I wanted to be. : ) I wish I could agree with you, but there's a place we can meet in middle, but more on that in a moment. IMHO, Wild doesn't stop to smell one rose in the 2nd. Moreover: During the Rhapsody he blasts through the 18th variation so fast that even the strings--upon their entry-- have to take a moment to catch up.

That said, I'm glad I didn't close my mind to Wild: I've just acquainted myself with his Chopin 1st PC and love his ultra-sensitive handling of those two quiet poetic stretches in the 1st mov't. Wild is also more indulgent than most (!) in the more ecstatic outbursts of the Rach 3rd. Based upon his 2nd, who woulda thunk it?

No worries though, having heard Rachmaninoff's own performance of his 2nd (with Ormandy) on RCA, you and Wild have his blessing. I'm the odd man out. : )

Any time! I'm on the lookout for Simon/Slatkin Rachmaninoff on Vox with St Louis, having enjoyed Slatkin's Vox box of the Rachmaninoff Symphonies. They're not "high voltage" performances, but often lovely. What really caught my ear was the sound quality, since these sets were recorded by the Elite team, which did the Ravel Vox box. Now it's my turn: anyone heard it?