Man the sound on this is phenomenal!! I can't believe it! HDDT has done it again! BRAVO!!

There are a few classic recordings of this concerto from past generations. This is one of them. The transfer seems well done and the resulting sound is pleasing. I can’t say whether it is an improvement on previous versions as I have not heard them but I should be surprised if it were not.

AT the time of release, this was hailed as an outstanding performance of this chestnut concerto. Indeed, it is one of those that proves that Cliburn was much more than a so-so pianist elevated by the Cold War. He played this in Russia many times. At the competition, Gilels, Richter, and Shostakovich were his judges and had to plead to Kruschev, himself, to allow them to award him top prize. He was THE Rachmaninoff interpreter of the time and this performance proves it. The source of the tapes is not listed, but there is no doubt about the quality of the performance. The original LP placed the piano forward (which was unnatural) but which showed the intricacy and accuracy of Cliburn's finger-work in extended run passages. The remix for CD put him back to a more natural balance, but those amazing details were lost. But this transcription is so clear that it re-reveals those details while maintaining a more reasonable piano/orchestra balance.