Vladimir Golschmann was one of the best concerto accompanists in the business, as you can tell from his recorded collaborations with Glenn Gould, Arthur Rubinstein, Mischa Elman, and William Kapell, among other luminaries. But even a Golschmann couldn’t fashion a silk purse from this 1953 sow’s ear of a Rachmaninov Second Concerto. The sound is tubby and ill-balanced, although the piano-to-orchestra ratio passes muster. But does that really matter, given Leonard Pennario’s capable but superficial pianism? In fairness, Pennario remade this work in stereo, to happier results all around. Mediocre engineering conveys a grainy orchestral image in the Tchaikovsky selections, with percussion relegated to the Siberian bleachers. Neither performance rises above its routine parameters, but at least you can surmise that Golschmann maintained a fine string section. At any rate, these recordings faced stiff competition in the early mono LP era, then slithered out of the catalog to little fanfare. Why resurrect them now?
