Because first-rate Rachmaninov concerto cycles are the rule rather than the exception in the current catalog, any new contender must reach beyond mere surface perfection to get noticed, especially by overly picky critics. Surely there’s nothing to criticize concerning Simon Trpceski’s unflappable, effortless, and pretty near flawless pianism. Furthermore, Vasily Petrenko and his Royal Liverpool musicians uphold the high standards they’ve been setting in their superb Naxos Shostakovich Symphonies cycles.
Listen, for example, to the refined wind/brass balances in the Fourth concerto’s exposition, the dark warmth of the sustained strings in the First’s Andante, or the strongly projected first-desk solos throughout the Rhapsody. Yet when measured alongside our reference versions’ wider dynamic range, more shapely animation, and edgier soloist/orchestra repartee, the Trpceski/Petrenko collaborations seem relatively characterless, foursquare, and perfunctorily proficient.
This, for example, somewhat softens the dramatic momentum over the course of Paganini Variations 13, 14, and 15, which is not the case in the brisker, more sharply accented Hough/Litton edition. Also compare the Dallas string section’s more songful phrasing and deliberately “old school” yet immaculately worked out portamentos in the First concerto’s development section to the Royal Liverpool’s equally accomplished yet more generalized execution. The Fourth Concerto Largo’s melancholy soloist/orchestra dialogues also don’t quite heat up as they do by virtue of the London Symphony Orchestra’s heftier, more colorful string tone under Antonio Pappano’s leadership and soloist Leif Ove Andsnes’ greater intensity.
In short, this is a very good release that will have to jostle for space among greater, more individually distinctive competitors. I like the chatty, amusing, yet always-informative tone of Richard Bratby’s annotations.
