COMPOSERS: Rachmaninov
LABELS: Classics for Pleasure
WORKS: Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 3
PERFORMER: Mikhail Pletnev, Cécile Ousset (piano); Philharmonia Orchestra/Libor Pe≥ek, Günther Herbig
CATALOGUE NO: 228 2792 (1988/90)
This coupling is a mismatch. Pletnev demonstrates affinity for Rachmaninov’s style in the First Concerto, but Ousset's technically proficient playing of the Third seems stolid and sadly deficient in spontaneity and imagination. David Breckbill