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Title: Excellent Performance & Recording, But It's Live
Review: Having long been a fan of the 1973 E. Power Biggs recording of these two concertos on Columbia, with its stately majesty and glorious acoustics, I was intrigued to run across this budget-label release of the same two rarely-performed pieces. Curiosity impelled me to purchase it.It's really quite good. The pace is taken a little slower, which does not diminish the grandeur of the music, and the organ and orchestra sound really terrific with lots of thundering low end and powerful dynamics. Certainly nothing in the performance falls short of the requirements of the music.I was a little surprised to hear some coughing in the quieter moments and polite applause at the conclusion. It doesn't markedly detract from enjoyment of the performance -- in fact it emphasizes how terrific the performers are, to be this good without editing -- but nowhere on the cover is it mentioned that this is a live recording.
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