Tchaikovsky: The Three Piano Concertos / Gary Graffman

$24.99
Label
Sony Masterworks
Release Date
March 17, 2010
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      TCHAIKOVSKY, PETER ILYICH
    • PERFORMER
      Gary, Graffman
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      March 17, 2010
    • UPC
      827969473726
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      SONY94737
    • LABEL
      Sony Masterworks
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      2
    • GENRE
      Instrumental
    Works ⌄

    1. I. Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso

      Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

      Ensemble: Cleveland Orchestra

      Performer: Gary Graffman

      Conductor: George Szell

    2. II. Andantino semplice

      Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

      Ensemble: Cleveland Orchestra

      Performer: Gary Graffman

      Conductor: George Szell

    3. III. Allegro con fuoco - Allegro vivo

      Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

      Ensemble: Cleveland Orchestra

      Performer: Gary Graffman

      Conductor: George Szell

    4. I. Allegro brillante e molto vivace

      Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

      Ensemble: Philadelphia Orchestra

      Performer: Gary Graffman

      Conductor: Eugene Ormandy

    5. II. Andante non troppo

      Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

      Ensemble: Philadelphia Orchestra

      Performer: Gary Graffman

      Conductor: Eugene Ormandy

    6. III. Allegro con fuoco

      Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

      Ensemble: Philadelphia Orchestra

      Performer: Gary Graffman

      Conductor: Eugene Ormandy

    7. Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 75: Allegro brillante

      Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

      Ensemble: Philadelphia Orchestra

      Performer: Gary Graffman

      Conductor: Eugene Ormandy

    8. Promenade

      Composer: Modest Mussorgsky

      Performer: Gary Graffman

    9. I. Gnomus

      Composer: Modest Mussorgsky

      Performer: Gary Graffman

    10. Promenade

      Composer: Modest Mussorgsky

      Performer: Gary Graffman

    11. II. Old Castle

      Composer: Modest Mussorgsky

      Performer: Gary Graffman

    12. Promenade

      Composer: Modest Mussorgsky

      Performer: Gary Graffman

    13. III. Tuileries

      Composer: Modest Mussorgsky

      Performer: Gary Graffman

    14. IV. Bydlo

      Composer: Modest Mussorgsky

      Performer: Gary Graffman

    15. Promenade

      Composer: Modest Mussorgsky

      Performer: Gary Graffman

    16. V. Ballet of the Chickens in their Shells

      Composer: Modest Mussorgsky

      Performer: Gary Graffman

    17. VI. Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle

      Composer: Modest Mussorgsky

      Performer: Gary Graffman

    18. Promenade

      Composer: Modest Mussorgsky

      Performer: Gary Graffman

    19. VII. The Market-Place at Limoges

      Composer: Modest Mussorgsky

      Performer: Gary Graffman

    20. VIII. Catacombae (Sepulcrum romanum)

      Composer: Modest Mussorgsky

      Performer: Gary Graffman

    21. IX. The Hut on Fowl's Legs (Baba-Yaga)

      Composer: Modest Mussorgsky

      Performer: Gary Graffman

    22. X. The Great Gate at Kiev

      Composer: Modest Mussorgsky

      Performer: Gary Graffman

    23. Islamey

      Composer: Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev

      Performer: Gary Graffman


Benchmark recordings of Tchaikovsky -- many aspiring pianists may think of changing professions after hearing Graffman soar through these iconic works with such dazzling élan.

At last. Gary Graffman's recordings of Tchaikovsky's Second and Third Concertos were the ones which introduced me to these works. They have remained my benchmarks ever since, the admirable couplings by Haas, Douglas, Gilels, Pletnev and others notwithstanding and despite the second movement of the Second being in the truncated Siloti edition. As Graffman makes clear in his entertaining memoir I Really Should Be Practicing (Doubleday: 1981) — among the best of pianists' autobiographies — Ormandy was a prince of accompanists. The two artists had known each other for 20 years and it shows. There are many memorable passages, among them the conclusion of the Second Concerto's volcanic central first-movement cadenza when the orchestra re-enters with the opening subject (15'58"), initially failing to subdue Graffman's ecstatic quasi-trill at the top of the keyboard; and a similar moment in the Third Concerto when Ormandy introduces (11'05") some crunching off-beat cymbal crashes.

Szell also proves a convivial, alert partner in the First Concerto, providing deft touches that lift this account above the ordinary. Listen, for instance, to the syncopated brass figure beneath the apotheosis of the last movement's second subject. If Graffman eschews the demonic brilliance of Horowitz, his reading is all about Tchaikovsky. Horowitz's is more about Horowitz.

To complete this all-Russian programme, there is Graffman's compelling Mussorgsky where once again he creates, well, pictures that live in the memory: 'Bydlo' appears in the misty distance, lumbers by and vanishes again (superb), while the unhatched chicks are played with a rare sense of fun. Finally, there is Islamey. Many aspiring pianists may think of changing professions after hearing Graffman soar through this iconic barnstormer with such dazzling élan.

-- Jeremy Nicholas, Gramophone [1/2006]