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Title: Jingily-Jangily!
Review: I wish I could give this issue a strong recommendation. The performances are done in that big and boldly romantic way that are exactly what Rachmaninoff's works crave. Unfortunately, a severely out-of-tune piano in the First Concerto virtually destroys whatever momentum and style that performance can muster!The Rhapsody, so richly tuneful, luckily doesn't suffer from this fate and the fine, straightforward performance brings out all its charms. You may not find the pianism of the likes of Rubinstein, Ashkenazy, or Rachmaninoff himself here, but it is a more than adequate account.The sound in both works in close and full, perhaps lacking the lustre of the finest engineering, but certainly adequate. But that plinky-planky piano in the Piano Concerto #1 robs this issue of a big thumbs-up.
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