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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This set represents incredibly good value for money. None of the performances are less than distinguished. Most of these recordings are available differently packaged (e.g. the piano concertos and certain individual symphonies), but buying this 6 cd set is the most cost-effective way of acquiring these performances. The symphonies are given eloquent readings with plenty of drama and temperament. Other orchestral works are given similarly excellent performances. The digital recordings are all well balanced. The piano concertos and Rhapsody are played with great refinement and poetry and represent an alternative to a barnstorming approach. This is not to say that they are devoid of drama. Interestingly, No.4 is offered with it's alternative 1926 final movement as well as the usual 1941 version. For good measure, there is a performance of the Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto included. All in all, you have here an unmissable bargain complementing versions by Ashkenazy and Pletnev.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
To begin with (and to make a somewhat urgent request), if you buy no other "bargain box" this year, BUY THIS STAGERING BARGAIN OF A BOX BEFORE EMI REMOVES IT FROM THEIR CATALOGUE... or worse, buy it before the gougers start buying up this set and selling it for a hundred (+) dollars!
Make no mistake about it, this collection of Rachmaninov's orchestral works can stand up against any other collection in the catalogue, and far surpass quite a few of them!
Contemplate it: An authentic virtuoso Russian orchestra (The St. Petersburg/Leningrad Philharmonic), an impassioned, visionary Russian conductor (Mariss Jansons), an astonishingly all-but-unknown genius of a Russian pianist (Mikhail Rudy, every nuance and phrase the equal of Ashkenazy and Volodos in this repertoire!), all recorded (in Russia!) in EMI's fantastic, luxurious, to-die-for DDD sound... and all at super-bargain price!
In a hundred years time, people will still be wondering why this set did not find the favor it richly deserved.
It doesn't matter that you already have quite a few Rachmaninov recordings by Previn, Ashkenazy, Rozhdestvensky and a host of other Russian conductor's doing guest appearances with the LSO (the "Leningrad Philharmonic" of the west), you need to find a place for this incredibly idiomatic and life-enhancing set in your Rachmaninov collection. Musicological, historical and theoretical arguments in favour of these recordings aside - and I could give you PLENTY, being well-versed in all three areas - these performances will simply rock your world!
I kid you not; these recordings are so utterly precious to me that I have already ordered a second set to replace the one I am presently wearing out! To be without these recordings in the future, even for a week, is just unthinkable.
This is surely a spectacular and unique chance to hear Rachmaninov's orchestral works in a purely Russian setting in demonstration-quality sound; something you will never hear in other "authentic" Russian recordings (especially those made by Russian recording companies).
JUST BUY IT... and then buy another set for your octogenarian years.
Make no mistake about it, this collection of Rachmaninov's orchestral works can stand up against any other collection in the catalogue, and far surpass quite a few of them!
Contemplate it: An authentic virtuoso Russian orchestra (The St. Petersburg/Leningrad Philharmonic), an impassioned, visionary Russian conductor (Mariss Jansons), an astonishingly all-but-unknown genius of a Russian pianist (Mikhail Rudy, every nuance and phrase the equal of Ashkenazy and Volodos in this repertoire!), all recorded (in Russia!) in EMI's fantastic, luxurious, to-die-for DDD sound... and all at super-bargain price!
In a hundred years time, people will still be wondering why this set did not find the favor it richly deserved.
It doesn't matter that you already have quite a few Rachmaninov recordings by Previn, Ashkenazy, Rozhdestvensky and a host of other Russian conductor's doing guest appearances with the LSO (the "Leningrad Philharmonic" of the west), you need to find a place for this incredibly idiomatic and life-enhancing set in your Rachmaninov collection. Musicological, historical and theoretical arguments in favour of these recordings aside - and I could give you PLENTY, being well-versed in all three areas - these performances will simply rock your world!
I kid you not; these recordings are so utterly precious to me that I have already ordered a second set to replace the one I am presently wearing out! To be without these recordings in the future, even for a week, is just unthinkable.
This is surely a spectacular and unique chance to hear Rachmaninov's orchestral works in a purely Russian setting in demonstration-quality sound; something you will never hear in other "authentic" Russian recordings (especially those made by Russian recording companies).
JUST BUY IT... and then buy another set for your octogenarian years.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
6 reviews
30 of 30 people found the following review helpful
An excellent set now as a compilation.
11 July 2003
Format:Audio CD
This is a great set of Rachmaninov recordings, which until recently could only be bought in pieces. EMI deserves praise for making these worthy performances, under direction of Mariss Jansons, available in a box set.
Not only as a recording accomplishment but on artistic grounds as well does this set deserve to be offered as a compilation. The piano concertos are all distinguished and really have not received the exposure that they deserve. Mikhail Rudy offers a fine performance throughout. This set, if it is a straight reissue of the previous Piano Concertos, should also include the original, and very interesting, conclusion to the 4th Piano Concerto. The recording of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 is also a fine work that has been put into this Rachmaninov box set.
In the symphonies Mariss Jansons makes his own unique stamp on these works and the result is very satisfactory throughout. While one may disagree with some elements of his interpretations, such as his election to do the 2nd and 3rd Symphonies without the exposition repeats, one cannot fault his overall approach and vitality.
In addition to the well-known Vocalise, the listener gets the mysterious and rarely-recorded Scherzo as an additional filler piece.
Jansons has created a compilation here that is nearly as comprehensive as those done by Ashkenazy (Decca) and Slatkin (Vox). Overall I would rate this set sonically and artistically slightly below Ashkenazy, but slightly better than Slatkin. I stronly recommend this set as a complement to either compilation.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
what a steal!
9 Jan 2009
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This 6-cd overview of Rachmaninov orchestral works offers compelling and consistent readings of some gorgeous music. Mariss Jansons has a real affinity for Rachmaninov's music, and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic executes his instructions flawlessly. The recording is first rate as well. Personal favorites from the set include a ravishing Symphonic Dances, and the whole set of piano concertos, where Janson and his orchestra interact very well with pianist Mikhail Rudy. Janson and his forces offer a vision of these works that can easily hold its own next to other worthy interpretations offered by Ashkenazy and Ormandy, two of my other favorites. This set would make an excellent introduction to Rachmaninov's orchestral world or a valuable supplement to an existing library of Rachmaninov recordings.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Excellent Rachmaninov and a Special Hidden Gem As Well!
7 Aug 2009
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I had a similar set done by the Concertgebouw but this box set of Rachmaninov's Orchestral Works is my favourite and in my opinion the better in all aspects. The cardboard box packaging with cardboard inner sleeves to hold the 6 cds is very well designed and comes with a 40-page glossy booklet containing an essay on the composer by Andrew Huth in English, German and French in addition to the track listings as well as a hidden gem of my favourite Piano Concerto of all time being Tchaikovsky's played masterfully by Mikhail Rudy and the then Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra. Mariss Jansons does an excellent interpretation of Rachmaninov's works here as well and this DDD recording means the sound quality is very, very good. True bargains are few and far between these days but you can count this excellent box set among them. This is now my favourite Rachmaninov collection and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
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