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I owned the original RCA CD-4 quadradisc of this recording. This is far, far superior however it is flawed. Not in performance but in recording. The piano recording is faultless, and it sounds amazing, but the orchestra recording is not up to par. This was early in the quadraphonic period, and it shows it. It sounds like your head is inside the piano which is somewhat disturbing. The orchestration surrounds you, but I feel the balance is off. This may be a personal preference of mine. I find concerto recordings focus too much on the soloists and not enough on the soloist's dialog with the orchestra. This is definitely the case here and moreover the orchestral parts are just not well recorded (but well played). It sounds better in stereo than in surround.

Back in 1969, while living in Puerto Rico, I attended the yearly concerts of the Casals Festival, and its rehearsals. Artur Rubinstein was a yearly presence, playing marathon solo recitals, full program, then encore sets longer than the published program. The SRO audiences loved him!

The playing, sound, and surround mix on this disc are just ravishing. Ormandy gets the orchestra playing lushly and Rubinstein\'s playing is as lyrical as always.

GET THIS DISC!!!