Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18 & Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30

Album review

The notes for this Sony Classical release of Rachmaninoff's two most popular piano concertos raise the question of overexposure, which may be put to many classical warhorses that are recorded repeatedly and sold to the public time and again. While Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor and his Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor are indeed among the most popular concertos of all time and the most frequently programmed of his four piano concertos, practically every virtuoso feels obligated to record them, and labels often try to disguise the redundancy of the product through eye-catching packaging and hype. Fortunately, this 2017 release by Khatia Buniatishvili and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Paavo Järvi, offers something that is of real value in the extraordinarily clear performances and the transparent recorded sound. Whether it was achieved through close microphone placement or judicious engineering in the studio, Buniatishvili is fully audible and placed squarely in the center of the mix, so her incisive playing is never dulled by the periodic thickness of the orchestration or swamped by acoustics. The exposition of the first movement of the Piano Concerto No. 2 immediately reveals how well she sounds, elevated above the ponderous statement of the main theme. However, Buniatishvili is at her finest in the quieter slow movements, where her refined playing and sensitive expressions are natural and unforced, and Rachmaninoff's limpid scoring gives her room to breathe. Newcomers to these concertos would do well to consider this recording as one of the best available, while Buniatishvili's fans will be thrilled by her dazzling playing.

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