Complete Collections - Rachmaninoff - Complete Recordings CD

 The most beautiful piano playing ever put on Record!
I obtained these recordings when they were first released on vinyl on the centenary of Rachmaninoff's birth in 19773. (I still have them). The playing is sublime, the musicianship extreme and the technique flabbergasting. In works, both miniature and large (such as his own arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumble Bee and Schumann's Carnaval) Rachmaninoff's tremendously moving musical sense and rythmic verve is evident throughout. The recordings of his own works for piano and orchestra are relevatory (though I have to somewhat agree with Horowitz that the day he put down the third concerto was not one of his best; it almost sounds like a perfunctory "let's get it over with" performance). But aside from that, the performances in here are among the most sensitive and musical piano playing ever done in the 20th century. In fact, I've never heard anyone play MORE musically than this! Get it for a look back into the Golden Age of the Composer/Pianist/Conductors that all but died out with the death of Leonard Bernstein (though Mikhail Pletnev lives)!
Submitted by sll10 (Tucson, AZ USA)
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 Best ever
This album changed my view of piano playing for the rest of my life. Never sentimental, but always full of emotions. A life changing experience!
Submitted by Fredric (Helsinki, Finland)
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 The Best
Simply the best piano playing ever recorded - nothing comes close until now!
Submitted by Paul (Switzerland)
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 Rachmaninoff plays Rachmaninoff and More!
If you can live with the less than crystal clear sound from the recordings, there is some very interesting stuff here. The version of Rach's 3rd piano concerto (The main reason for my purchase) is listenable even with the background hissing. Unlike some of the versions I have heard from this era, the overall sound is good, and the piano can be easily heard. I have heard versions where the orchestra all but drowns out some of the passages; not so here. Also in the set are some interesting takes on some of the popular Chopin piano works, as well as some pieces by lesser known composers. Overall, a great body of recorded works and the price here is the best I have found.
Submitted by grokin (Las Vegas) 
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