The Respectable but Tame Concerto(转发)

These performances of Van Cliburn with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra were recorded in 1972 during a visit by Cliburn to the (then) USSR. The first work, Rachmaninov's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini," is actually a set of 24 variations on Paganini's theme, which was also used by Brahms for a set of variations. Rachmaninov's variations are unusual in that a brief introduction and one variation precede the playing of Paganini's theme in its original form. The following variations start out in strict form but gradually become freer and include such things as inverting the theme, as in the well-known 18th "Andante Cantabile" variation, or putting the second limb of the theme before the first.

Van Cliburn is at his best in this studio performance, using a full dynamic range and milking the emotional qualities of the music for all it's worth. The Moscow Philharmonic under the direction of Kiril Kondrashin provides an exciting orchestral accompaniment that is well balanced with Cliburn's piano. The Rhapsody has been recorded many times, including by Rachmaninov himself with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Stokowski, but this Cliburn version is an excellent one.

The other work on this CD is Brahms Second Piano Concerto, composed by Brahms and first performed by him in 1881. It consists of four movements and has been called a "symphony with piano obbligato." The orchestral part is of equal importance to the piano part, which itself is very demanding. The only real cadenza in the piece is at the beginning of the first movement. The second movement, a scherzo-like "Allegro Appassionato," is one of Brahms greatest creations.

I disagree somewhat with other reviewers about the quality of Cliburn's playing of this concerto. While not the greatest performance by any means, I wouldn't call it a travesty, as some other reviewers imply. Cliburn turns in a respectable though not very exciting performance. Part of the problem is that the Moscow Philharmonic seems uninspired by this music and tends to just plod along. Another problem is that the live performance of the concerto was not recorded as well as the studio performance of the Rhapsody. According to the liner notes, the Moscow tape of the performance was re-mastered to get rid of hiss, resulting in some dulling of the sound. The movement tempos are on the slow side, and the Andante is taken as an adagio, a pace common to many other performances but perhaps slower than what Brahms intended.

Other reviewers believe that Cliburn's 1961 recording of the Brahms Second with Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony is a better performance. I used to have an LP of it and remember being impressed at the time, but I no longer have it. I have five other recordings of the work but haven't found the ideal version. Many like Sviatoslav Richter's exciting charge through the concerto with the Chicago under Leinsdorf, but the more lyrical aspects of the music, as in the first movement, are lost at such speed.

In summary, this is a historical performance of Van Cliburn's return visit to Moscow in 1972. The Rachmaninov Rhapsody performance is excellent, and the Brahms is somewhat weak but not all that bad, in my opinion.