Yefim Bronfman, The Philarmonia, Esa-Pekka Salonen - Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos 2 & 3 (2004) CD-Rip

Yefim Bronfman has a special affinity for these two concerti, a nearly selfless approach to the scores that keeps in mind that while the piano may be the solo instrument and provide key lines for the 'accompanying' orchestra to elucidate, the same relationship belongs to the orchestra when Rachmaninov introduced melodies in the orchestration that are then embraced with ardor by the piano soloist.

Bronfman and Esa-Pekka Salonen understand and concur on this view and the results are performances that equally wed the orchestra and the piano. Rachmaninov was not only a brilliant pianist who played his own works, but also an orchestrator who knew the difference between accompanying and embellishing. Here that is clearly the case. There are times when the orchestral sound covers the piano obbligato and for this listener that is the composer's intent. There are simply few recordings of the #3 that match the splendor of this one.