Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 & Scriabin Fantasie Op. 28

[sidoze]

And this one puts and end to yours.

You can never mistake the sound of Toradze, that harsh, metallic, banging sound which seems to be the only thing he can ever get out of the piano. IMO he is truly awful. He does the same thing to the Tchaikovsky 1, pounding it into submission. It's a shame because he has some good ideas, but as a musician he is hopeless. And his concert repertoire is tiny.

Now at least people can't say that I love all Russian pianists (add Afanassiev too) 

[MichaelRabin]

I had a bad time with Toradze as well. He played Rach PC 3 here live with the orch in Malaysia & he took about 60 mins to play that conc. Almost as bad as Pogorelich!

[m_gigena]

From Stage6

Shostakovich : Concerto for piano, trumpet and strings in C minor Op.35
-I. Allegro moderato
-II. Lento
-III. Moderato
-IV. Allegro con brio

ALEXANDER TORADZE (piano)
YUKIHIRO SEKIYAMA (trumpet)
ESA-PEKKA SALONEN (conductor)
NHK Symphony Orchestra

Location:NHK Hall (Tokyo, Japan)
Date:December 7 2002

View it here: http://www.stage6.com/user/opus3863aa/video/2018548/TORADZE-&-SALONEN-Shostakovich-Piano-Concerto-No-1

Download link here: http://video.stage6.com/2018548/.divx

[greg]

Why?

His softer treatment at the beginning too is not my style.

softer treatment, man....
way too slow..... i normally don't like virtuoso piano cadenzas to be slow.

[m_gigena]

softer treatment, man....
way too slow..... i normally don't like virtuoso piano cadenzas to be slow.

You must hate Schumann's then.

[greg]

You must hate Schumann's then.

wait, Schumann played Prokofiev?

wow! 

[BachQ]

wait!!! Schumann played Prokofiev?

He means Clara Schumann, Greg .........

[m_gigena]

wait, Schumann played Prokofiev?

wow! 

Not really. But you can wait for Bassio to shed some light on this, and then mimic him. Again.

[BachQ]

The discontinuation before the reprise is an anti-climactic destruction of the momentary partial release of tension (accompanied with the momentary switch to suspense and anticipation) that will be further heightened to absolute horror when the orchestra makes its re-entrance.

Yes!  We see your point ..........     Really .......... we do!

[m_gigena]

Thanks for the other video Manuel. So this is Toradze?!! This is the first time I see him. I haven't listened to his set.

You are welcome.

You can watch the whole performance here... if you wanted to do such thing:

Sergei Prokofiev
Piano concerto Nº 2

Alexander Toradze piano
London Symphony Orchestra
Valery Gergiev conductor

Prom 59: London Symphony Orchestra
28 August 2007 - ROYAL ALBERT HALL

http://rapidshare.com/files/56605529/Alexander_Toradze_-_Prokofiev.2007.avi.001
http://rapidshare.com/files/56407837/Alexander_Toradze_-_Prokofiev.2007.avi.002
http://rapidshare.com/files/56431332/Alexander_Toradze_-_Prokofiev.2007.avi.003
http://rapidshare.com/files/56450183/Alexander_Toradze_-_Prokofiev.2007.avi.004
http://rapidshare.com/files/56555286/Alexander_Toradze_-_Prokofiev.2007.avi.005
http://rapidshare.com/files/56571575/Alexander_Toradze_-_Prokofiev.2007.avi.006

Download the 6 files and join them with Hjsplit.

[sidoze]

I had a bad time with Toradze as well. He played Rach PC 3 here live with the orch in Malaysia & he took about 60 mins to play that conc. Almost as bad as Pogorelich!

Pogorelich's interpretation--of the 2nd, he doesn't play the third--is questionable of course, but one thing you won't get from Toradze--or anyone else--is the sheer kaleidoscopic range of sound he creates. The experience is unique for that alone.

Speaking of odd 2nds, have a listen to the Nyiregyhazi performance of the slow movement, a sort of free rhapsody on the work, in theory not far off from the Pogorelich reading. It's the last file on the page.

http://www.fugue.us/Nyiregyhazi_discography-3_E.html

From Stage6

Shostakovich : Concerto for piano, trumpet and strings in C minor Op.35

ALEXANDER TORADZE (piano)

Thanks but I'm not interested in that work. The one recording by Toradze that I'd like to hear is his Ravel Gaspard. Otherwise I've heard enough -- there are some pianists you know you just don't like, for one reason or another, in this case mostly for his tendency to bang (and bang and bang). It's a shame he can't create a huge sound without doing that (like Zhukov, Gekic and Nyiregyhazi), otherwise he'd be worth hearing more of.

And by the way, I love to hear this cadenza played slowly and heavily. Ugorski plays it like that.

[Zhiliang]

Did Pogorelich record the Prokofiev 2nd on cd?

[bassio]

Yes!  We see your point ..........     Really .......... we do!

I am glad you finally understood that D minor .. you know I always try to get my point across using the least number of words possible



Thank you Manuel for the videos .. are they huge? I hope it won't take long if I wanted to download it using my snail connection (avg. 20KB).

At least I am not on dialup

[bassio]

Did Pogorelich record the Prokofiev 2nd on cd?

Sorry I have not heard about that

[sidoze]

Did Pogorelich record the Prokofiev 2nd on cd?

He only ever played the 3rd, and is still playing it actually, though somewhat strangely.

When I said speaking of odd 2nds, I meant the Rachmaninoff.

[not edward]

I'm still holding out hope for a single-CD recording from Severin von Eckardstein. His live performances at the Leeds and Queen Elizabeth competitions were excellent, but I'm not going to buy a 3CD set (the rest of which I don't really want) to keep them for posterity.

[m_gigena]

Thank you Manuel for the videos .. are they huge? I hope it won't take long if I wanted to download it using my snail connection (avg. 20KB).

Each file from Prok's second is about 70mb. 

[sidoze]

I'm still holding out hope for a single-CD recording from Severin von Eckardstein. His live performances at the Leeds and Queen Elizabeth competitions were excellent, but I'm not going to buy a 3CD set (the rest of which I don't really want) to keep them for posterity.

I have a copy of his QEC performance on DVD. It was sent to me by a very charming German man and I don't think he'd mind if I copy it on. I just have to find it first, however (this could take weeks).