Search - Sergey Rachmaninov, Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Andre Previn :: Tchaikovsky: Manfred Symphony/Marche Slave/Fantasy Overture-Romeo & Juliet/Rachmaninov: Symphony No.2

Fantastic

Ryan Richards | Midland, MI United States | 03/10/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Prior to purchasing these CDs, I read somewhere that the performance of the Manfred symphony was "admirable," but that it was the Rachmaninov that really shined. I bought this CD set for Manfred, and I was thrilled: the power and precision Previn gets out of the LSO is amazing. Listening to the Manfred symphony (not to mention the Marche Slave and Romeo & Juliet overture) as recorded here, I got the feeling I was hearing them played "right," that I didn't need to listen to other interpretations to understand how the music was "supposed" to sound--and that's a feeling that's hard to come by. Listening to Rachmaninov's Second, though, I had to redefine my standards of what "right" is. Previn's works on these CDs are indeed admirable; they're tough acts to follow--but the Rachmaninov, which I approached as just some bonus music on my Tchaikovsky CDs, absolutely blew me away. Temirkanov imbues the music with such incredible power and passion that it seems to be a living, breathing entity, changing the question from "Is this interpretation 'right'?" to "Can any other interpretation possibly be 'right'?" I agree with the other reviewer that it's difficult to believe this kind of lush, gorgeous sound can come out of the RPO, even as underrated as I think they are. This is a ten-star recording. The bottom line is, this is a 2-CD set that should not be passed up at any price. It's extremely difficult to beat this interpretation of the Tchaikovsky pieces; it's impossible to beat the Rachmaninov."

A splendid Rachmaninov 2nd.

JPH | Crawley | 09/18/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I had lived with a flawed single recording of Rachmaninov's 2nd Symphony for far too long and was looking for a better replacement. Thanks to the enthusiastic reviews below I invested in this CD set, and I must say Temirkanov's reading of the 2nd is really really good. From the opening bars you sense a feeling of "rightness" about it immediately: this performance has authority and genuine drama. I had previously sworn off buying any more Royal Philharmonic recordings because of several lousy experiences with this orchestra's lacklustre 1980s CDs. Here however, the RPO sound once more like the great ensemble they were under Beecham. If anything, this Rach 2nd sounds like a natural follow-up to the musical success the RPO achieved in their famous "Scheherazade" recording under Beecham. Temirkanov and RPO dig up an endless array of glittering details in the score.The Previn performances are good too, even though they have been surpassed by some modern versions. Nevertheless they make wonderful handmaidens to Temirkanov's luscious performance."