TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2 [download]

^{**** Performance **** Recording} _{BBC Music Magazine}
^{Top 10 Tchaikovsky Recordings} _Gramophone
^{Clef du Mois} _ResMusica

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Denis Matsuev piano

Valery Gergiev conductor
Mariinsky Orchestra
Total duration 78m32s

Catalogue number MAR0548
UPC 822231854821

Philipp Nedel for b-sharp Producer, editing & mastering
Vladimir Ryabenko engineering

Recorded March & April 2013 in the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg. Piano Concerto No 2 is performed using Tchaikovsky's revised version.

Includes multi-channel 5.0 and stereo mixes
Notes in English / en Francais / auf Deutsch / на русском языке
Top 10 Tchaikovsky Recordings
'I doubt if you will ever hear it more viscerally thrilling and sumptuously engineered than here.' Gramophone

Recording of the Month
‘Matsuev’s Tchaikovsky No 1 is thrilling, the work’s drama excitingly to the fore – a new ‘personal benchmark’, says Jeremy Nicholas. That’s for you to decide, of course, but do hear it.’ Gramophone

IRR Outstanding
'The vivacious finale [No 2] is taken at a real lick, Matsuev and the orchestra spurring each other on in a whirlwind dance.' International Record Review

**** Performance **** Recording
BBC Music Magazine

****½ 'An impressive addition to Denis Matsuev's growing discography.' 'SA-CD.net

'After listening to this masterful Tchaikovsky CD, add Matsuev's name to legendary list of Russians who embody this great music... Matsuev's technique is flawless and Gergiev accompanies beautifully...The recording is dynamic, is SACD encoded and portrays the piano realistically in the new Mariinsky Concert Hall. The hall's acoustics have received rave reviews and show beautifully here. Highly recommended.' Audiophilia

'Matsuev's Tchaikovsky is dazzling, there are no two ways about it. This is white-hot, in-the-moment playing: faster passages are knocked off with panache in spades, while his singing tone is glorious in more lyrical passages.' Classical Music

‘An energetic reading, robust, demonstrative, flashy… Let us bow before the purely technical qualties of Matsuev, who swallows the deadliest features with speed and sometimes staggering accuracy.’ Diapason

'I doubt if you will ever hear it more viscerally thrilling and sumptuously engineered than here… The finale [of Piano Concerto No 2] is a riot as it should be and, with scintillating energy, brings to a conclusion this must have release… Two five-star recordings, so to speak, on one disc.' Gramophone

'The performances are never less than technically assured and anyone coming to them with experience of other recordings will certainly find that Messrs. Matsuev and Gergiev offer an invariably interesting and often quite striking alternative approach.' Music Web International

£7.99

Valery Gergiev, Denis Matsuev, Mariinsky Orchestra

Since winning the 11th International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1998 Matsuev has established a reputation as one of Russia’s greatest and most dynamic pianists. Over recent years he has begun to perform regularly on the international scene and has recorded for BMG Russia. He has appeared with many of the world’s leading orchestras and gave his first Carnegie Hall recital in 2007.

Matsuev's first release on the Mariinsky label, featuring Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 3 and Paganini Variations, received widespread acclaim. His second Mariinsky release featured piano concertos by Shostakovich and Shchedrin, and was awarded Clef du Mois by ResMusica and ***** by Audiophile Audition.