'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
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.