Rachmaninov / Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No 2 – Denis Matsuev

   in Piano International (Jul, 2018)
Denis Matsuev can be electrifying, as parts of the present disc prove. But this release, as a whole, is frustrating. The Rachmaninov offers one of the finest performances of the first movement available: remarkable detail, superbly sculpted, technically magisterial. It is the central movement where things come unstuck, too fast, too insubstantial, and Matsuev over-projects. One wonders if it was Gergiev who pressed forwards needlessly. The finale balances the extremes offered so far, with unsmiling interactions against a later sense of rightness.

The Prokofiev is this disc’s saviour. There is a reason we don’t hear this concerto much: its technical difficulty is summarised in the huge cadenza, brilliantly dispatched. The piece …