This has nothing but five star reviews on Amazon, the first of which comments:
If you like Rachmaninov this disc is not to be missed. It contains the single most passionate and musically insightful account of the composer's Piano Concerto 3 I've ever heard, a recording for the ages. The recording circulated in pirated form for years; now DG has published it in very good (not great) sound. Coupled with the Rachmaninov is a recording of Mozart's Piano Concerto 23, one of the earlier composer's most characteristic yet forward-looking works, played here by Sokolov in a way that might bring tears to an angel.There is also a DVD with the box that offers a look at Sokolov the person that I look forward to seeing. He is very likely the greatest living pianist.
But I look forward even more to tomorrow night when I will be attending his concert in the Auditorium Manzoni in Bologna, the closest venue to Madrid during his multi-city European tour. I don't think he tours outside Europe any more as he finds the heightened visa requirements just too onerous. This will be, as always with the maestro, a serious concert consisting of two and only two composers: Mozart in the first half and Beethoven in the second half.
There is a fine film of a concert he gave at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris over a decade ago, made by the French filmmaker Bruno Monsaingeon who has made many excellent films of musicians.
In this performance, he walks on stage, plays three Beethoven sonatas without pause and that's the first half. No-one even clapped between sonatas! So I am looking forward with great anticipation to the concert. I also look forward to writing about it, as that always clarifies my thoughts.
So, see you after the concert!
What else?
2 comments:
Somehow I doubt this is a happy coincidence but rather that you timed your Spanish vacation to allow attendance at this Sokolov recital! Congratulations on a well-executed plan!
It is rather a happy coincidence. I had already planned to come in May, then had the idea to see if Sokolov was playing anywhere near. Turns out he was! I just got back from Bologna, rather exhausted, and will put up a post on the concert tomorrow.
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