Two complete Living Stereo LPs on a single disc! Van Cliburn's history-making gold medal at the 1st Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow at the height of the cold war helped his Tchaikovsky Concerto No. 1 to become classical music's 1st platinum record.
Two complete Living Stereo LPs on a single disc! Van Cliburn's history-making gold medal at the 1st Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow at the height of the cold war helped his Tchaikovsky Concerto No. 1 to become classical music's 1st platinum record.
Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 and Etudes-Tableaux, played by the Russian Evgeny Kissin, is unparalleled in mastery, beauty, and power. Kissin understands the flow of the piece from beginning to end. As a result, he builds the tension by accentuating the rich chord progressions that fill the piece. He then resolves that tension with the precision of a story-teller and the sensitivity of a master artist. Though the music stretches the ability of even the greatest pianists, Kissin plays through the difficulty in order to paint a landscape of musical progression.
Phillips' Great Pianists of the 20th Century issue has gotten a lot of publicity in the ten or so years since it has been released. In a musical niche suffering from falling revenues, it was a decent seller. But it left many connoisseurs disappointed, as the quality was limited to the fancy packaging.