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It's all about the music, dude! Sit down, relax and listen to some tunes.

Actually, I heard it on Spotify last night

I think I'd been "listening to the past through rose-colored earphones" when I referred to this recording in my post below! Although Long herself is fine, the orchestra is sometimes scrambling to stay together. The trouble with recommending performances such as Long's to newbies is that, despite what one might imagine as the authority deriving from a composer-directed performance, the presentation of the music on this old recording is really sub-par, compared to most other recorded performances. I mean, when you hear the woodwinds kind of grabbing for the notes just to get to the next beat on time, you're really not hearing an optimal presentation of the music. Not to mention the antique recorded sound - this is simply not making the best case for the music. Of course, the Long performance should be studied by everyone interested in the composer-sanctioned view of the music - but, IMHO, only as a supplement to better performed and recorded editions.

While on Spotify, I also listened to what I believe is the very newest recording of the Ravel Concerto, the one with Stefano Bollani, Riccardo Chailly and the LGO:



The difference between this performance and the Long performance is almost night and day: the beauty and refinement of the playing in the modern performance (both pianist and orchestra), the sureness of the characterization, the wonderful recorded sound (apparent even on the lossy 320kbps Spotify stream) - all of this combines to make this new recording almost an ideal introduction to the work for a listener coming to it anew. This doesn't mean that the other recordings are unworty - or even that the Long performance is unworthy! It's just that Bollani and Chailly really do bring qualities to their performance that can make this concerto a striking experience if the listener is at all receptive to it.


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  • Actually, I heard it on Spotify last night - Chris from Lafayette 10:48:27 05/31/12 (0)

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