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William Kapell Edition Vol 3 - Rachmaninoff: Concerto No 2


Release Date: 02/08/2000 
Label:  Rca Victor Red Seal Catalog #: 68992   Spars Code: ADD 
Composer:  Sergei Rachmaninov,  Dmitri Shostakovich
Performer:  William Kapell
Conductor:  William Steinberg,  Fritz Reiner
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Robin Hood Dell Orchestra of Philadelphia
Number of Discs: 1 
Recorded in: Mono 
Length: 1 Hours 1 Mins. 

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Notes and Editorial Reviews

This re-release of William Kapell's 1951 recording of Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini with Fritz Reiner and the Robin Hood Dell Orchestra will hopefully serve as a corrective to the many pianists who take this work at dreadfully slow tempos. The fleet and bright Kapell-Reiner reading makes this work's theme and 24 variations cohere in a way that eludes so many other interpretations--as an extended, precise, and often frenetic dance and thus not, in this way, unlike Ravel's 'Bolero.' Such a reading not only teases out a most appropriate Paganinian mania in the faster variations but also rescues the slower ones, like the eighth (here given a cool, easy swing), from sounding like dirges.
Whether under the direction of Reiner Read more or, as with the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2, under William Steinberg, the woodwind soloists of the Robin Hood Dell Orchestra are exemplary, while the strings (especially under Reiner) shimmer. The concerto possesses many moments that require careful advanced staging; otherwise, the work runs the risk of sounding tunefully episodic. With Steinberg keeping the ensemble super-tight throughout all three movements, he and Kapell stage these moments brilliantly. Read less

Works on This Recording

1.
Concerto for Piano no 2 in C minor, Op. 18 by Sergei Rachmaninov
Performer:  William Kapell (Piano)
Conductor:  William Steinberg
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Robin Hood Dell Orchestra of Philadelphia
Period: Romantic 
Written: Russia 
 Date of Recording: 07/07/1950 
Venue:  Academy of Music, Philadelphia, PA 
Length: 31 Minutes 1 Secs. 
Notes: Composition written: Russia (1900 - 1901). 
2.
Morceaux de fantaisies (5), Op. 3: no 2, Prélude in C sharp minor by Sergei Rachmaninov
Performer:  William Kapell (Piano)
Period: Romantic 
Written: 1892; Russia 
 Date of Recording: 03/19/1945 
Venue:  Studio no 2, RCA Studios, New York City 
Length: 3 Minutes 58 Secs. 
3.
Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, Op. 43 by Sergei Rachmaninov
Performer:  William Kapell (Piano)
Conductor:  Fritz Reiner
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Robin Hood Dell Orchestra of Philadelphia
Period: Romantic 
Written: 1934; USA 
 Date of Recording: 06/27/1951 
Venue:  Academy of Music, Philadelphia, PA 
Length: 21 Minutes 58 Secs. 
4.
Preludes (24) for Piano, Op. 34: no 24 in D minor, Allegretto by Dmitri Shostakovich
Performer:  William Kapell (Piano)
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1932-1933; USSR 
 Date of Recording: 12/11/1944 
Venue:  Studio no 2, RCA Studios, New York City 
Length: 1 Minutes 11 Secs. 
5.
Preludes (24) for Piano, Op. 34: no 10 in C sharp minor, Moderato non troppo by Dmitri Shostakovich
Performer:  William Kapell (Piano)
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1932-1933; USSR 
 Date of Recording: 12/11/1944 
Venue:  Studio no 2, RCA Studios, New York City 
Length: 1 Minutes 54 Secs. 
6.
Preludes (24) for Piano, Op. 34: no 5 in D major, Allegro vivace by Dmitri Shostakovich
Performer:  William Kapell (Piano)
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1932-1933; USSR 
 Date of Recording: 12/11/1944 
Venue:  Studio no 2, RCA Studios, New York City 
Length: 0 Minutes 26 Secs. 

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