RACHMANINOFF PIANO CONCERTO 2

The best Rach 2's are rated by most people by performance quality. If it happens to sound good, then it is a bonus.

I could recommend a few great ones, but I cannot comment on the sound.

My favorite Rach 2 by far is the 1971 Ashkenazy / Previn London Symphony recording on London/Decca.

If you get swept away by the performance you may forget about the sound.
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Ashkenazy rules in Rachmoninoff! Symphonies, PC's w/Previn, solo piano, and two piano's w/Previn. Very good recordings as well. Now that thats out of the way.....

Listen to Hough before you buy. Despite all of the accolades, I found it a disappointing set. Performance and sonic's. Wild's set is well worth having, and its been an audiophile favorite for years.

My current favorite in 1 & 2 is by Andsnes/Pappano on EMI. Warning it is not soupy - its much more brisk than most, something I think Rachmaninoff's music can use..its romantic enuf with out the typical performances in which the conductors broadens it even more. FWIW, I think Rachmaninoff himself played his music much as I prefer.

If you want a beautifully played and sonically excellent recording, try Ogawa on BIS.

What about Van Cliburn on RCA Living Stereo SACD?

Van Cliburn and Ashkenazy are the two standards. I like both of those more than Rachmaninoff's own recording (which I have on 78!)

This is one of the pieces that I come back to over and over. The haunting melody that reoccurs in all the movements just kills me. Those who've heard it know exactly what I'm talking about. And that moment of silence at the very end of the last movement, right after the cadenza, just before the orchestra comes back in full force? Aaaaaaaaah.

I'd love to hear Bernstein play this. Does anybody know of a recording?