Rachmaninov*, Concertgebouw Orchestra* / Vladimir Ashkenazy – Symphony No.1

Wow! This pressing is stunning. Dead quiet. I bought this used, but this 40 year vinyl was well taken care of. Colin Moorfoot is the engineer and it’s one of the most beautiful and realistic recordings I’ve ever heard. It sounds and feels like I’m in the symphony hall. I noticed that not many people own it on Discogs. This is definitely a hidden gem.

An early 1984(?) digital recording from Decca with the usual Colin Moorfoot "wall of sound" recording quality. If anything it is a tribute to the Amsterdam Concertgebouw hall rather than Ashkenazy 's conducting which is slight and completely lacking in understanding of the strings in a symphonic work. This entry into the catalogue has the superficial benefit of the usual pumped up Decca sound, but in terms of shaping of the music, clarity and sheer playing - either in ensemble or in the many solo instrumental passages which are breathtakingly lovely - Lorin Maazel and the Berlin Philharmonic from DGG around the same year in digital completely outclass this performance and recording. Some will hold their nose and put Maazel down (compared to this crude Decca) as merely neat and tidy and not involving enough - but listen to the sheer precision and beat-perfect playing of the trumpets in the thrilling beginning of the finale and the highly satisfying way the DG engineers let the orchestra, superior here to the Concertgebouw, "sing" even here at full force while reserving even more power for the final bars. You might out of personal taste prefer Ashkenazy 's efforts, but I urge a listen to Maazel for a more expert musical account.