Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky: Piano Concertos

1	Piano Concerto No. 3 in D
2	Piano Concerto No. 3 in D
3	Piano Concerto No. 3 in D
4	Piano Concerto No. 1 in B
5	Piano Concerto No. 1 in B
6	Piano Concerto No. 1 in B
Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky: Piano Concertos
1.	Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 40:44
	Composed by Sergey Rachmaninov
	Performed by Martha Argerich and Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
	Conducted by Riccardo Chailly
2.	Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23 32:31
	Composed by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky
	Performed by Martha Argerich and Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
	Conducted by Kiril Kondrashin

Barnes & Noble

Believe it or not, Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto was popular long before the film Shine hit the theaters. The composer, one of the greatest pianists of all time, knew how to write for his instrument. Soon after its premiere in 1909, the Third Concerto became the test of a virtuoso's proficiency and stamina, and it was played by just about every great pianist. While Rachmaninoff recorded a cool-headed interpretation of the concerto himself, Martha Argerich's performance is anything but. Recorded live in 1982, this album captures Argerich at her most passionate -- and the result is awe-inspiring. She evokes the delicate patter of raindrops one minute and then thunders away, sweeping through Rachmaninoff's lush score like a hurricane. Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 is another warhorse that is brought thrillingly to life by Argerich's fiery temperament and ferocious technique. Andrew Farach-Colton

Gramophone

[Argerich's] Rachmaninov is full of surprises, her opening Allegro almost convivial until she meets directions such as piu vivo or veloce, where the tigress in her shows her claws and the music is made to seethe and boil at a white-hot temperature. The cadenza...rises to the sort of climax that will make all pianists' hearts beat faster and her first entry in the "Intermezzo" interrupts the orchestra's musing with the impatience of a hurricane. Bryce Morrison

The overpowering live Rachmaninov Concerto No. 3 of 1982, recorded with Chailly remains a peculiarly heart-wrenching performance, filled with the pianist's mercurial way with tempos, redolent with a tragedy made all the more poignant by her eerie and almost resigned sense of composure. It is exhilarating, yet profoundly sad, with the aura of a valedictory reading which, thankfully, it is not. The sparks with Chailly are extraordinary. Philip Kennicott