André Previn’s EMI recording of Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra remains one of the finest available. His Telarc remake isn’t quite so good. Essentially, it suffers from logy tempos in the first and third movements (the latter excruciatingly slow), compounded by a lack of amplitude and bite to the climaxes. Nor does Telarc’s recording rise to the highest standards of the house, being shy in the bass and less than ideally clear in fully scored passages. In fact, Telarc remade this symphony with David Zinman and the Baltimore Symphony and produced one of the great recordings of the work, interpretively and sonically. Absent such strong competition, there might be some justification for purchasing this release; but as it is, if you want Telarc then spend a few more dollars and seek out Zinman, and if you want Previn, go for EMI. Both are worth having, but this release is redundant in every respect.
