It's been great to see the Second become so popular in (seemingly) recent years. Sixty years ago, the only recording I knew was John Browning's with Leinsdorf. I don't think it has aged badly against today's super-human virtuosos. I am still fond of the First, however, and hope it won't be neglected.
Wow- great review! Gotta get this recording! First time I ever heard Goodyear play was in Spartanburg South Carolina when he played the Ravel Concerto- brought tears to my eyes! His Beethoven Sonata Cycle is second to none, and his Nutcracker plays- literally- 2-3 times everyday between November 1 and January 31! Man, what I would give to hear him do more original orchestral transcriptions! One of the truly great pianist/composers of our time, and this terrific review reinforces that truth!
@@ftumschkFor sure! The recorded sound is incredible, and every time I listen to it I'm blown away by the fact that there are no finger stumbles or sloppy passage work- impeccable!
Thank you for the timely review. I've was looking for a prokifiev concerto 2. I'll try this one and support artists that are still alive and performing! I have Janis and argerich doing #3 and richter doing #5.
Sounds great! Might stream it, as I’m trying to downsize (a bit right now). There’s a lot of good Prokofiev lately. I like to listen to the 7th sonata as a kind of treat, and oh my! Richter, Horowitz, Argerich, Pollini, yes, I even like Gould’s traversal. Steven Osbourne did that recent disk of the war sonatas that I really liked as a whole… So I guess I’ll be checking this out!
Listened to #2. I love this concerto! Stewart Goodyear deserves high praise for his unfailing crystal clarity in this difficult piece - yet despite the high skill by pianist, conductor and orchestra I found it to be somewhat relentless. Too much of a good thing in the sense that there’s not enough color. There are times when a desired accumulation of power achieved by skillful pedaling is instead forfeited for notey clarity. But I’m glad that others like the performance.
Goodyear is downloading as we speak. My imprint is Liebowitz with the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra. Fantastic playing, orchestral "color," and absolutely stunning recording quality for the time. For any time. And the PCO's bass drum player actually made a showing, for once. : )
Exciting stuff! Another great recommendation from you. I'll always hold the Szell recordings of Pno Ctos 1 and 3 as the gold standard in terms of clarity and excitement. The Cleveland Orchestra to my ears still brings about more clarity and brilliance in the orchestral accompaniment (in no. 3 in comparison to these recordings, did Szell ever record no. 2?), but these are certainly exciting and virtuosically performed as you attest! Incredible piano playing which I do find more visceral than Graffman with Szell.
I've enjoyed every recording I've heard by Stewart Goodyear, his version of The Nutcracker is amazing. I believe you should be able to pop out the disc tray of a jewel case and glue it to the cardboard of the digipak.
With Gergiev on Mariinsky, correct? Paired with Rach 2? I absolutely LOVE that recording, and that is my choice recording of Rach 2 as well- despite the nearly botched final few bars of the 3rd movement. Somehow the rest of that performance is so excellent that I can excuse the final few bars. I've been trying unsuccessfully to get in touch with someone from Mariinsky for over a year to find out if that album will ever make its way to streaming services, as it's one of the last albums from my cherished physical collection that isn't available to stream yet. I'd also highly recommend Michel Beroff's set with Kurt Masur + Gewandhausorchester on Warner Classics/EMI, it doesn't seem to be very well known; but it should be because every one of the concerti recordings are absolutely phenomenal.
@@kingconcerto5860 yes the Mariinsky matsuev. He’s made quite a few excellent recordings including Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. Agree with Kurt masur, one of my favorites as well. Listen to Alexander Toradze Prokofiev 2, it’s outstanding. Matsuev used to be on streaming services but I think anti Russian sentiment in American politics got in the way.
Dave, have you heard Michel Beroff's set with Kurt Masur + Gewandhausorchester on Warner Classics/EMI? I believe those are some of the greatest sleeper performances ever. I'm looking forward to checking out this Goodyear + Litton album and seeing how it stacks up to Beroff, I've already added it to my listening queue.
Glad to see the Beroff recordings mentioned, which they rarely seem to be. I grew up on that set, and no doubt it's a case of "your first is always your favorite," but nothing else ever feels quite as alive and genuinely expressive to me. The present recording, which is certainly very well recorded and played, still strikes me as a little _too_ clear and sparkly and forward-driving. There's more depth to be found in these pieces if you want it.
i have a question for you. first i really like your reviews. thank you. ok. i listen to a great deal of music on you tube. is it me, or are there more and more sort of tech produced music pieces or collections. for instance, i do love vivaldi, but some of the collections sound artificial, and at a way too fast tempo and frankly almost all too perfect. i also find them sort of screachy and strident. is this what i am hearing happening. ??? not just exclusively on any particular site, but in multiple sites set up to play lists of say baroque music with multiple composers etc. so with your help i really am looking very carefully for real performances. is there any way to tell these sites they are mangling really good music by getting them put together mechanically via AI. i guess it is ok for those who have never really had the opportunity to listen and understand real performed and produced good classical music. Do you have any answers???? thanks i will keep paying attention to you. your ideas are real and i presume you are., lol
@@DavesClassicalGuide one site i was going to listen to actually stated to my surprise, autogenerated by youtube..... so i guess it is becoming a thing. i really do want to listen to the real stuff. thank you for your commentary.
Listened to it last week on a streaming service. Absolutely agree. Goodyear is a remarkable virtuoso and musician.
It's been great to see the Second become so popular in (seemingly) recent years. Sixty years ago, the only recording I knew was John Browning's with Leinsdorf. I don't think it has aged badly against today's super-human virtuosos. I am still fond of the First, however, and hope it won't be neglected.
The first time I heard Goodyear play, I was totally galvanized.
Wow- great review! Gotta get this recording! First time I ever heard Goodyear play was in Spartanburg South Carolina when he played the Ravel Concerto- brought tears to my eyes! His Beethoven Sonata Cycle is second to none, and his Nutcracker plays- literally- 2-3 times everyday between November 1 and January 31! Man, what I would give to hear him do more original orchestral transcriptions! One of the truly great pianist/composers of our time, and this terrific review reinforces that truth!
Agreed - that Nutcracker recording is fabulous.
@@ftumschkFor sure! The recorded sound is incredible, and every time I listen to it I'm blown away by the fact that there are no finger stumbles or sloppy passage work- impeccable!
An exciting release indeed! I wish Andrew Litton was also on the podium when Goodyear recorded Rachmaninoff's concertos 2 and 3.
Btw Litton’s Prokofiev symphonies cycle on BIS is really great
Most of it. The 5th is a bit disappointing, as so often happens.
Dave, many thanks for this great work you do
To me Gutierrez/Jaarvi was unbeatable in the 2nd and Lugansky/Nagano in the 3rd. Will need to reassess!
Oh absolutely. That Gutierrez Prok 2 is just spectacular in every way
The entry of the orchestra after the big cadenza is absolutely frightening in its power.
J.Bolet, J.Zak in 2nd concerto, W.Kapell in 3d concerto!
Thank you for the timely review. I've was looking for a prokifiev concerto 2. I'll try this one and support artists that are still alive and performing! I have Janis and argerich doing #3 and richter doing #5.
I highly recommend Matsuev + Gergiev on Mariinsky for #2 also.
Sounds great! Might stream it, as I’m trying to downsize (a bit right now). There’s a lot of good Prokofiev lately. I like to listen to the 7th sonata as a kind of treat, and oh my! Richter, Horowitz, Argerich, Pollini, yes, I even like Gould’s traversal. Steven Osbourne did that recent disk of the war sonatas that I really liked as a whole… So I guess I’ll be checking this out!
Osborne's recordings of the war sonatas on Hyperion are absolutely outstanding. I adore his solo piano Rachmaninov too.
As with many recordings nowadays, it's on youtube, I'm listening to it right now
@@happywolfie1980 how lucky you are !
Listened to #2. I love this concerto! Stewart Goodyear deserves high praise for his unfailing crystal clarity in this difficult piece - yet despite the high skill by pianist, conductor and orchestra I found it to be somewhat relentless. Too much of a good thing in the sense that there’s not enough color. There are times when a desired accumulation of power achieved by skillful pedaling is instead forfeited for notey clarity. But I’m glad that others like the performance.
Goodyear is downloading as we speak. My imprint is Liebowitz with the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra. Fantastic playing, orchestral "color," and absolutely stunning recording quality for the time. For any time. And the PCO's bass drum player actually made a showing, for once. : )
Exciting stuff! Another great recommendation from you. I'll always hold the Szell recordings of Pno Ctos 1 and 3 as the gold standard in terms of clarity and excitement. The Cleveland Orchestra to my ears still brings about more clarity and brilliance in the orchestral accompaniment (in no. 3 in comparison to these recordings, did Szell ever record no. 2?), but these are certainly exciting and virtuosically performed as you attest! Incredible piano playing which I do find more visceral than Graffman with Szell.
I've enjoyed every recording I've heard by Stewart Goodyear, his version of The Nutcracker is amazing.
I believe you should be able to pop out the disc tray of a jewel case and glue it to the cardboard of the digipak.
Unless the cardboard is wrecked too...it doesn't really work in any case.
Can you do a review of best of 2nd concerto. Matsuev released a beautiful rendition couple years ago.
With Gergiev on Mariinsky, correct? Paired with Rach 2? I absolutely LOVE that recording, and that is my choice recording of Rach 2 as well- despite the nearly botched final few bars of the 3rd movement. Somehow the rest of that performance is so excellent that I can excuse the final few bars.
I've been trying unsuccessfully to get in touch with someone from Mariinsky for over a year to find out if that album will ever make its way to streaming services, as it's one of the last albums from my cherished physical collection that isn't available to stream yet.
I'd also highly recommend Michel Beroff's set with Kurt Masur + Gewandhausorchester on Warner Classics/EMI, it doesn't seem to be very well known; but it should be because every one of the concerti recordings are absolutely phenomenal.
@@kingconcerto5860 yes the Mariinsky matsuev. He’s made quite a few excellent recordings including Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. Agree with Kurt masur, one of my favorites as well. Listen to Alexander Toradze Prokofiev 2, it’s outstanding. Matsuev used to be on streaming services but I think anti Russian sentiment in American politics got in the way.
Downloaded from Apple Music for consideration later.
Dave, have you heard Michel Beroff's set with Kurt Masur + Gewandhausorchester on Warner Classics/EMI? I believe those are some of the greatest sleeper performances ever. I'm looking forward to checking out this Goodyear + Litton album and seeing how it stacks up to Beroff, I've already added it to my listening queue.
Yes I have. First rate, as you say.
Glad to see the Beroff recordings mentioned, which they rarely seem to be. I grew up on that set, and no doubt it's a case of "your first is always your favorite," but nothing else ever feels quite as alive and genuinely expressive to me. The present recording, which is certainly very well recorded and played, still strikes me as a little _too_ clear and sparkly and forward-driving. There's more depth to be found in these pieces if you want it.
Better than the Litton/Kempf/Bergen? Thank you
That recording sprang to my mind immediately as well.
Yes, how does it stack up?
i have a question for you. first i really like your reviews. thank you. ok. i listen to a great deal of music on you tube. is it me, or are there more and more sort of tech produced music pieces or collections. for instance, i do love vivaldi, but some of the collections sound artificial, and at a way too fast tempo and frankly almost all too perfect. i also find them sort of screachy and strident. is this what i am hearing happening. ??? not just exclusively on any particular site, but in multiple sites set up to play lists of say baroque music with multiple composers etc. so with your help i really am looking very carefully for real performances. is there any way to tell these sites they are mangling really good music by getting them put together mechanically via AI. i guess it is ok for those who have never really had the opportunity to listen and understand real performed and produced good classical music. Do you have any answers???? thanks i will keep paying attention to you. your ideas are real and i presume you are., lol
I really can't say what's going on, but it wouldn't surprise me...
@@DavesClassicalGuide one site i was going to listen to actually stated to my surprise, autogenerated by youtube..... so i guess it is becoming a thing. i really do want to listen to the real stuff. thank you for your commentary.