I am a huge fan of pianist Grigory Sokolov. Sadly, I have all but given up on ever seeing him live at a concert. As I understand it, he no longer appears with orchestras, and his solo concerts seem to be limited to performances in Europe.
As such, I keep exploring his recordings. Here is one of the more recent ones:
Mozart and Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos
Mozart:
Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K488, with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Trevor Pinnock conducting.
Rachmaninov:
Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30, with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Yan Pascal Tortelier conducting.
I find that so many pianists play very rapid tempos these days. What is special for me is that Sokolov will play the Mozart slow movements as I want to listen to it. SLOWLY. I want to relish the spaces between the notes, and Sokolov gives me the opportunity to have that pleasure.
Here is Grigory Sokolov in the second movement of Mozart’s piano concerto number 23:
