Kissin: Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 1 - German RCA RL 87947, rare on LP

$

95

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ITEM DESCRIPTION:

This outstanding and rare LP – a fine collector's copy – from German RCA (RL 87947, German pressing (medium weight), Red Seal label, DDD stereo) features the young Evgeni Kissin's dazzling performance of Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor Op. 35, in which he is joined by Vassili Kan (trumpet), conductor Vladimir Spivakov, and the crack Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, made at the Konzerthaus, Vienna on 12 August 1988 (producer: Wilhelm Meister / engineer: Richard Österreicher).

Filling out the disc is Spivakov and the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra's equally impressive account of Shostakovich's Chamber Symphony in D minor Op. 110a, Rudolf Barshai's re-working of the composer's String Quartet No. 8 Op. 110, as well as Viktor Poltoratzky's arrangement of 7 of the 24 Preludes for Piano Op. 34, here cast also for string orchestra. These two works were set down at the Eglise du Liban, Paris, on 29/30 July 1988 (producer and engineer: Yolante Skura).

Wrote the critic M.E.O. in his review for the December 1989 issue of The Gramophone: "Ortiz, Senior, Bournemouth SO, Berglund (5/88) CDS7 47790-8 Alexeev, Jones, ECO. Maksymiuk (1/89) CD-CFP4547 Kissin, Kafelnikov, Moscow Virtuosi, Spivakov (5/89) OCD1 79 When Kissin and Spivakov first recorded this Concerto on Olympia/Conifer (coupled with Rozhdestvensky's reading of Shostakovich's Fifteenth Symphony), I described it (in May) as "the must vulgar performance I have ever heard" of the work, and its recording as "hideously garish". RCA's recording, though very bright and with a close focus on the piano, is much easier to live with (you might even find it an 'authentic' sound if assertive brashness strikes you as the Concerto's central quality) but I cannot say that I have warmed to the interpretation. Kissin is a dazzlingly gifted technician, and there is undoubted entertainment to be had from observing him play pages of this Concerto louder, faster, more sonorously, more staccato or simply more peculiarly than anyone has ever played them before; and a 17-year-old who could undoubtedly play the piece backwards in double octaves cannot really be blamed for wanting to show off bit. No, what he needs is a little good-humoured restraint from a sympathetic conductor, but that he is unlikely to receive from Spivakov, the name of whose orchestra speaks volumes.

"This is not so much a recording of Shostakovich's First Piano Concerto as a recording of the virtuoso effects that can be drawn from it. Not just aggressively showy effects, though there are plenty of them; the first movement's introduction (portentously slow) and the Lento (backed by Spivakov at the outset with chalk-white muted string tone) are made into pretexts for exaggeratedly 'expressive' playing, every note dressed up to the nines. Simple lyricism is turned into histrionics, wit or simple exuberance into figure-skating; all is grist to the mill of pianism.

"The sound of Spivakov's orchestra (gutty, almost hoarsely so at times, and with a rich and well-articulated bass) suits the Chamber Symphony quite well, and there is no risk that his players will be thrown by the merciless tempo of the second movement; they play it slightly above the metronome marking, if anything, and the only casualties are some fuzzed triplets. The work can take Spivakov's big, oratorical gestures, but his unstable and at times exaggerated speeds, his fondness for an almost throaty timbre and his over-acted rubato push a tragic document dangerously close to the border of melodrama.

"Virtuosity also rules in the Preludes, glossily orchestrated by Viktor Poltoratsky and played either with the sort of pickaxe staccato that is a Kissin speciality (reinforced at one point by the use of a tambourine, for heaven's sake) or with disproportionate schmalz. The breathy string sound has by now become something of a mannerism; it reminds one, of course, of how very difficult these essentially pianistic pieces are to play if you happen to be a string orchestra (albeit a virtuoso one), but then why bother?"

Incidentally, the cover photo of Spivakov and Kissin was taken by Fayer Fotostudio.

CONDITION:

The gradations of condition I use are as follows: MINT, Near-Mint, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor.

The condition of the jacket is EXCELLENT. There is a slight bit of flattening and discoloration to the top edge and some minor creases elsewhere, but that is all. There are no seamsplits, bends, owners' markings, or other defects and the album remains solid, bright, glossy, and attractive – overall, this rates as an excellent collector's copy.

The condition of the LP itself is near-MINT and the playback is superb – overall, a beautiful collector's copy.