# Some Rachmaninov, Bach and Richter advice



## Clov (Dec 1, 2010)

Hello,

I started a thread a month or two back looking for similar on Chopin and received some wonderful advice which led to me buying some wonderful recordings.

So, could anyone share their recommendations around key recordings of Rachmaninov and Bach(keyboard works), and also the recordings which showed Richter at his best (I am hoping there is a crossover between the two). I have been listening to quite a bit on youtube lately, but was hoping for some direction!

These were the recordings that I thought might be worthy of looking into:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sviatoslav-...R09A/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1298631745&sr=8-4
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rachmaninov...1GQD/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1298631745&sr=8-5
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bach-Well-t...HN/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1298631745&sr=8-10

Thanks in advance,
Andrew


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

My Rachmaninov favorites are symphonies #1 and #2, piano concertos #2 and #3, Isle of the Dead and Etudes-Tableaux 39.

Edit: oh, you asked for recordings and I answered about works! Well, I'll leave this be anyway.


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## Webernite (Sep 4, 2010)

Well, Richter has a famous recording of Rachmaninoff's _Piano Concerto No. 2_. I can't say I like the remastered version, though. He also did a great recording of Bach's _Well-Tempered Clavier_, but it's marred by somewhat bad sound quality... There's also a recording of Bach's _French Overture_ (BWV 831); you might want to look into that. So far as I can tell, his recordings of the _French _ and _English Suites_ aren't that highly regarded. He never recorded the Partitas (i.e. the _German Suites_).

Edit: The most famous Bach keyboard albums are Glenn Gould's _Goldberg Variations_ from 1955 and 1981. You should probably have at least one of those in your collection. The trouble is that Gould's interpretations are pretty non-standard, so get a recording by someone else, too. I suggest Charles Rosen on piano, or Trevor Pinnock on harpsichord. (Do you dislike harpsichords? That's quite important.)


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Richter's Rach 2 is my favourite. The amazon recording you have highlighted there is very good.
For the Rach 3, nobody matches Martha Argerich's speed in her extremely famous recording. This CD also comes with her recording of Tchaikovsky's first; I prefer Martha's to Richter's. 
http://www.amazon.com/Rachmaninoff-...=sr_1_8?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1298673264&sr=1-8

Glenn Gould's may be "non-standard" yet nobody else comes close to his probably OCD level of perfected clarity. I love the Keyboard Concertos (and the orchestra nicely drown out his constant muttering):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bach-Keyboa...=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1298672622&sr=1-2


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