Tchaikovsky - Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 3

Hybrid SACD in 5.1 Surround Sound.
Playable on all CD players

"A truly great version of this oft-played piece. Made me listen with newly-opened ears"
(MusicWeb March 2005)

"This Tchaikovsky First is grand and big, filled with power and majesty, all captured in brilliant sonics by Naxos. Thus, you won't find the blazing octave passages and dazzling digital work of Argerich and Gavrilov here, but you will get beautiful playing by both the pianist and orchestra.

Tempos are generally moderate in all three movements and the whole is thoroughly enjoyable, in the end yielding one of the finer recordings in recent decades of this oft-recorded warhorse. While this performance may not displace classic efforts by Cliburn and Argerich, it certainly is worth the attention of novices or of veteran listeners who are unafraid of adding yet another Tchaikovsky First to their shelves.

The E-flat major Third gets a splendid performance too, but the work, for all its charm, isn't quite top-drawer Tchaikovsky. The Andante and Finale, in the realization by Taneyev, is an interesting bonus here, but again not a great piece. Still, Scherbakov and Yablonsky make an excellent case for the work.

The sound is excellent in all works and Keith Anderson's notes are informative. I must mention that, like the aforementioned Naxos Rachmaninov Second and Third by Scherbakov and Yablonsky, this DVD is not a visual account of a concert or studio performance; rather, it features DVD technology in sound only. Movement titles are displayed on the screen and all other features, like easy accessing of each movement, are also of course available here. Highly recommended."
- Robert Cummings. Classical.net