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Title: Dreadful performance
Review: I expected so much better from the great Andre Previn. This version of the greatest programmatic orchestral music of all time is simply terrible -- utterly uninspired and passionless, both in the solo piano and orchestral versions. The tone is muddy throughout, and I don't think it's the engineering: pianist and orchestra just seem listless in a piece that should leave listeners awed and thrilled. The pacing is all wrong. No definition in the percussion. The brasses sound bored. Listening to this is like reading Cliff Notes of War and Peace. Either the performers didn't understand this music or they didn't care. The best version remains Toscanini's with the NBC Symphony Orchestra: even with 1950s recording technology, scorchingly brilliant.
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