'Best' Rachmaninoff 3rd


I know these debates have been going on for a lot longer than I've been listening, but I dug out my Telarc SACD of Lang Lang playing the "Rach 3". The playing seems mechanical - he hits all the notes, but comparing it to my 1965 recording of Earl Wild playing the same, is like watching a 'B' movie actor who says all the words but is not convincing, compared to a great actor who makes you just watch and believe what is being acted out (Wild). I know Wild was considered a great virtuoso (aren't they all?), but this is like night and day. I'm not trying to cast Lang Lang in a bad light, I know he is very popular these days. I then listened to the Van Cliburn Living Stereo (1958) SACD, which was great, but not quite as musically connecting for me as the Wild. And of the three recordings, I think the Wild is probably the poorest in terms of recording sound quality, but still sounds the best overall performance wise. I also suspect that I may be being fooled by the overall sound of the recordings themselves - perhaps the Telarc itself is clinical compared to the two older versions, which allows the listener to be overly critical of the performance, but it's hard to say. Are there any other or better versions out there worth checking out?
jimmy2615
Horowitz with the NYPO under Barbirolli. Brilliance, virtuosity, and refined emotion. My favorite.
There must be 100 versions, and I haven't heard half (including the Horowitz recommended by Christian), but I, too, am a fan of the Wild performance. For that matter, Chesky's pairing of Wild's performance of the Rach 2nd with Isle of the Dead, is a winner.
The best I have heard is Garrick Ohlsson with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
My favorite is a live recording of Martha Argerich with Chailly and the Berlin RSO on the Decca label. She plays with such fire and emotion that you can't help but get immersed in the performance. I also like Ashkenazy's versions (especially when he was younger) and the Horowitz performance mentioned above.
Wild and Argerich are great performances too, don't get me wrong. I just prefer Horowitz's rendition.

I'm going to have to track down Ohlsson's and Ashkenazy's versions as well. Thanks!
The Wild/Horenstein performance is actually a famous Kenneth Wilkinson/Charles Gerhardt recording. The original Reader's Digest box set is TAS-listed. I humbly think it one of the best.

Otherwise, apart from the cuts, I've never found a better performance than Wild's. His Virtuosity is something else, yet the two lyrical outbursts--early in the 1st mov't and mid 2nd mov't--are perfectly judged, IMHO. Ravishing.

The only one that comes close is Santiago Rodriguez' though I can't remember the label.
Although I have never played it I found a 78 @ at The Salvation Army of Rachmaninoff's 3rd with the man himself at the helm. If I remember correctly Stokowski was the conductor.
I have Lazar Berman on Columbia Masterworks(mono),
Ashkenazy on Super Analogue(OBI) and Van Cliburn on Mercury(mono)
Van Cliburn is the best one I like.
I have a vinyl copy of Van Cliburn 1958 Live at Carnegie Hall RCA Victor Living Stereo. I assume that it is the same recording the that the OP has on SACD. I haven't heard any of the other recordings mentioned here so I can't judge. But I find the Van Cliburn recording to be very engaging. I find that it draws you in. It is one of my favorite classical records.

I'll have to get a copy of the Wild performance.
I'll point out that the Horowitz, Argerich and Van Cliburn recordings recommended above are all from live performances. I think this is no coincidence.
For me, the Ashkenazy/Haitink version on London is the very best. On SACD, I have a Naxos recording with Konstantin Scherbakov/Yablonsky wich is fine too. I also have a recording with Argerich/Chailly, but to me the speed of the performance is too fast. My vote goes to Ashkenazy, who by the way also does the Second & Fourth concertos equally well.
Agreed with Steve, Argerich is first choice.
You likey will agree when you listen to the soft passage note in first movement.
Argerich absolutely nails a few riffs here and there but otherwise, she's too bangy.