Gavrilov: Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3 - EMI 27 0623 1 (DDD)

Jacket EX / LP NM

This beautiful and rare LP from EMI (27 0623 1, German Electrola pressing / DMM · Direct Metal Mastering, large dog semi-circle label, DDD stereo) features Andrei Gavrilov’s high-octane account of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor Op. 30, recorded with conductor Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra at Memorial Hall, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia in October 1986.

Gavrilov and Muti’s reading was not well received in the pages of The Gramophone, but it is a performance whose stature grows upon repeated hearing and remains a worthy addition to the Rachmaninov discography.

This album was produced by James Mallinson and engineered by John Kurlander.

Incidentally, the striking cover portrait of Rachmaninov was executed by Edvard Abrams. There are superb liner notes on the reverse side of the jacket in English and Italian (by John Warrack), as well as in German (by Michael Stegemann), and French (by Gérard Mannoni).