Maurizio Pollini

In anticipation of his 75th birthday in 2017, this luxurious 55-CD set presents Pollini's complete recordings on DG with their original covers, including the first ever release of Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto with the NHK Symphony Orchestra under Maxim Shostakovich (recorded in 1974). Also included are a 200-page booklet and 3 bonus DVDs: concerto recordings with Böhm and Abbado as well as Bruno Monsaingeon's documentary film De main de maître (2015).

In anticipation of his 75th birthday in 2017, this luxurious 55-CD set presents Pollini's complete recordings on DG with their original covers, including the first ever release of Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto with the NHK Symphony Orchestra under Maxim Shostakovich (recorded in 1974). Also included are a 200-page booklet and 3 bonus DVDs: concerto recordings with Böhm and Abbado as well as Bruno Monsaingeon's documentary film De main de maître (2015).

Bartok - Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 - Pollini, CSO, Abbado (1979) {Deutsche Grammophon 415 371-2}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 211 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 119 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 79 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1979 Polydor / Deutsche Grammophon | 415 371-2
Classical / Concertos

Bartók's Piano Concertos are among the most difficult ever written; only a piano virtuoso of amazing dexterity, along with a virtuoso orchestra, can play them. Maurizio Pollini is that pianist, and the Chicago Symphony is that orchestra. The pianist's command of the music is consistently impressive, and Claudio Abbado leads the orchestra in extremely close sympathy with the pianist. The result is a set of performances that would be ideal except for two factors. One is that this LP reissue contains only two Concertos, when all three can fit on one CD. The other is that the recording balance so undervalues the orchestra that you can't hear everything. I'd love to hear these artists rerecord the same music with better engineering. –Leslie Gerber