Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 44

“Slatkin can certainly manage the freedom of Rachmaninov's frequent marking tempo rubato...On the minus side, the notoriously hard-to-co-ordinate finale of the Third feels unhelpfully lumpy...Not a bad bargain” BBC Music Magazine, May 2013 ***

“Sudbin’s playing has terrific presence in this recording of Rachmaninov’s Paganini Rhapsody. The blend of personality and stylistic perception that marks Sudbin’s live performances is also manifest here. He plays with passion, drive, dexterity, discretion and dynamism...This is a top-flight, richly enjoyable performance” The Telegraph, 5th April 2012 ****

“This, as you would expect from Subdin, is a performance rich in detail and immaculately executed; furthermore, from the outset the ear is immediately taken by the superb sound quality” Gramophone Magazine, May 2012

“Subdin, clearly on top form, treats Rachmaninov's variations like a set of diabolical virtuoso etudes, displaying transcendental virtuosity and kaleidoscopic keyboard colour. Sudbin nevertheless plays with all the necessary intimacy and sense of Romantic feeling in the lyrical sections...The Singapore Symphony accompanies perfectly, adding considerably to the colour and atmosphere of the work.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2012 ***/****

“In the Third Symphony, which finds Rachmaninov wistfully recalling the Russia he left after the October Revolution, Petrenko and the RLPO also identify the zest, the orchestral lucidity and the rhythmic thrust that marked the composer’s later years. An exhilarating performance.” The Telegraph, 5th January 2012 *****

“Perhaps the most impressive feature of this new recording is the quicksilver dynamic fluidity of the orchestra - they are able to move from the boldest of fortissimos to the most tender of pianissimos in a heartbeat. There is an overwhelming sense that the musicians are moving as one with the same telepathic unity of a murmuring of starlings. It is mesmerising....This music - and these recordings - will last for a very long time.” Classic FM Magazine, February 2012

“The RLPO strings sound leaner, perhaps, than those of Stokowski’s Philadelphia Orchestra, which inspired the composer, but they have never seemed more sumptuous than in the long melodies of the central adagio, and their brilliant articulation of virtuoso allegro passages at Petrenko’s fast tempi brings exhilarating dividends. In this magnificently played account, the stature of the music is never in doubt.” Sunday Times, 15th January 2012

“The RLPO play magnificently...There is surging energy here allied to lucidity of orchestration and rhythmic impetus, together with that infallible sense of instrumental timbre that Rachmaninov possessed. The lyrical elements...are conveyed with heartfelt affection without resorting to any heart-on-sleeve excess.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2012

“Pavel Kogan (son of virtuoso fiddler Leonid) moulds genuinely compelling, authentically tangy accounts of these two Rachmaninov masterworks, penetrating to the core of their homesick melancholy with often devastating candour.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2009

“A superb recording in an excellent acoustic and with the absolute top-flight of orchestral conductors. Buy it and enjoy - you won't regret it.” MusicWeb International

“Ashkenazy has made few more distinguished discs as conductor than his Rachmaninov symphony recordings of the early 1980s. The downside of the repackaging in this 2CD format is that you have to put up with a change of disc half-way through the Second Symphony and lose the shorter orchestral works included in the Previn set. Previn is the most natural but not always the most electrifying of Rachmaninov interpreters and many will find Ashkenazy preferable, particularly in No 1. Although some of Ashkenazy's speeds seem unnaturally pressed – he fairly tips us into the first movement reprise having declined to cap the climax with unvalidated bells – the excitement is infectious. Previn's LSO isn't at its best in the Larghetto, but in the corresponding movement of the Second Symphony the boot is on the other foot. Not that Ashkenazy isn't convincing too – so long as you can forget the Previn. Ashkenazy's volatile approach is at its most extreme in the Third, the mood much less autumnal than it usually is, with the fruity Concertgebouw brass unconstrained.
Such an unashamedly episodic rendering of the score has its drawbacks, but the virtuosic energy and Romantic gush are hard to resist. The recordings sound very well indeed.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010