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john
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I regard the Third as one of Rach's masterpieces. Comparing compositions is loathsome and small minded, but I can't resist saying that the Third strikes me as a significant advance over the Second.
Rach said that he wanted the opening [and main] theme to be a singing melody. It sure is. It's simple enough that almost anyone can play it [though not well - I can do it - sounds like crap (cause it's crap)].
Thanks for linking your excellent review. It's interesting - and I've often wondered about Toradze and whether he's truly a musician of artistic worth.
Severius! Supremus Invictus
I have his Philips set of Prokofiev Concertos and a video of his Stravinsky Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments (both with Gergiev - I see that there's a more recent video of the Stravinsky on YouTube with the Spanish OSG conducted by Dima Slobodeniouk). Some listeners, perhaps influenced by his "big bear" stature, consider Toradze a "pounder", but I've always liked his performances in this repertoire - if he's a pounder, he certainly cuts through the orchestral texture!
I think his second-place finish in the Cliburn competition in 1977, behind Steven De Groot, was a bit of a scandal. Many listeners did not agree with the judges (surprise!) and thought that Toradze should have placed first. A group of wealthy Texans got together and privately funded a number of concert appearances for him which essentially constituted the equivalent of what the first-prize winner (De Groot) received that year! That's how Toradze's career really began.
Another oddity is that I've heard a couple of folks who try to pin Toradze with some of the guilt in the tragic death of Alexei Sultanov, the speed-demon winner of the Cliburn competition in 1989. Apparently, both were heavy drinkers and Toradze was said to have encouraged Sultanov in this pursuit, even after Sultanov had begun to have strokes and other health problems. Could be just hearsay, although I knew at least one person (no longer alive) who was convinced of Toradze's partial culpability - I don't know what her sources for this belief were however.
I can't recall that I've heard Toradze in any Rachmaninoff. I generally prefer quick, brilliant ("steel in the velvet glove") performances of these works, and if Toradze is up to speed (literally!), my suspicion is that I would like his performances too.
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