Original Version:

Zoltan Kocsis- This is a recording that belongs in EVERY Rachmaninoff record collection. Kocsis must have an innate understanding of Rachmaninoff. His performance is so fluid and lucid. Like Horowitz, to Kocsis this music seems as natural as breathing. To add the the majesty, this performance was recorded masterfully. A suberb performance.

John Browning- Browning was the first pianist to record this work in its entirety in the original 1913 edition. Since the original version was never published outside Russia at the time he made his recording (1986), he had to make copies of a first edtion copy from a worker at a music store in New York. A very powerful performance, one of my favorites.

John Lill- The sound of this recording is the most exciting part. The piano is wonderful, but the music is not so good.

Freddie Kempf- Quite good (for being played on a Yamaha (WINK)) A very Romantic performance.

Alexei Sultanov- Nothing surprising until the end where he uses Horowitz's chromatic progression toward the coda

Stanislav Ioudenitch- A very good recording and performance, but not entirely in line with my taste. Recommended nevertheless.

Michael Ponti-

1. This is from a series entitled "Unedited Live Performances." This is a very emotional and romantic reading, but not very careful or balanced. It borders on sloppy, not in technique, but in style. A little disappointing.
2. Ponti's other recording is much more appreciable. More in line with what I was hoping to hear with the live recording which I bought first.
   

Revised Version:

Jean-Yves Thibaudet- Certainly the BEST recording of the revision that I've heard. Why, oh why didn't you record the Horowitz version Jean-Yves? At any rate, this is consistent with his recordings of the Rachmaninoff Concertos; first rate and highly artistic. (Coupled with an amazing performance of the Fourth Concerto with Ashkenazy/Cleveland)

David Helfgott- This is a joke at best, enough said.

Peter Jablonski- A very good, fluid recording and clear interpretation, but not highly impressionable or individual.

Idil Biret- Very metronomic and disappointing overall.

Marc-André Hamelin- Quite good (but nowhere near the amazement of a pirate recording of the 3rd mvt. that I have by him!)

Earl Wild- A good performance by Mr. Wild. He surprises me with some passages.

Combined Versions:

Vladimir Horowitz- Well once again, as with the Third Concerto, Horowitz takes a Rachmainoff piece and makes his recordings the master by which all others must be judged. Given supreme control over this piece by the composer's statment "do what you please with the damn thing" Horowitz takes that to heart and plays the work everywhere. He played it extensively in the 67/68 and 79/80 seasons, he also played it in 1982 at his London concert. Horowitz's combination of both versions are shown on the revision page in detail.

Ruth Laredo- It's almost like she's doing an impersonation of the 1968 Horowitz recording! Well, perhaps that's a little extreme, but she follows his cuts and substitutions exactly. Of course the playing is not even close to Horowtizian.

Van Cliburn- As the first artist to record the work (in 1962), Cliburn relies heavily on the original, but has taken some of the newly composed material from the revision and restated it in a manner consistent with Rachmaninoff's style circa 1913. This can be noticed in many places, but it seems to stand out in the closing of the first and second movements. A very brave move and very well done!

Vladimir Ashkenzay- A good performance, but a little disappointing in some aspects. The third movement coda is a place to shine, but he does not. Played well, but it just doesn't strike me like some others have. Ashkenazy chooses to play a few bars from the revision at the opening of the third movement, and in the similar passages throughout the final movement. He also plays some parts of the revision where Rachmaninoff did some thinning of texture.
More to come!