Rachmaninoff Conc 2 Mercury Living Presence

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. : )

Hey, Jdaniel, I just wanted to have a bit of fun with this one, as I rarely post here. I think we are not that far apart. I cut my teeth on the Wild performance, and that must have a lot to do with it. He does seem to rush in parts and take a few liberties, but after we hear Rachmaninov himself, all is forgiven. One of my buddies said: 'God, if I could only play like that for five minutes, they could cut my hands off, and I would be OK!' Poetically speaking, I agree! BTW, another discussion board favored the Lugansky version. I had not heard it before, but it was very elegantly played, and by quite a young man. Those concertos allow quite a heavy hand on the keyboard, and I do prefer a heavier hand than Lugansky's style. Horowitz also was quite good on #3. Thanks again for the opinions.

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?

I 've owned the Mercury recording in both vinyl and a High res download. The lp was my into to the piece. I hadn't heard it for years until I recently bought the download. It is enjoyable but I prefer the Richter or the Wild recordings listed by others.

A little off topic I guess - I am going to visit the guy at http://www.kensico.org/historic-scenic-tour-27.asp
I live not that far