This is in the top 5 of my favourite piano concerti and this recording, my favourite of all.

Never over sentimental, Wild has mastered the “tease” in this performance.

Where it is the custom of many pianists to linger and slacken the speed where secondary melodies appear, often presenting them as over romanticized, Wild maintains the trajectory of the musical line, never giving us time to fully embrace or foster an emotional dependence on the melody...leaving the listener wishing it would linger...and fostering an appreciation for the adage, “absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

But what really floats my boat in this recording (and I never tire of hearing it!) is that Wild chose to use Rachmaninoff’s fast cadenza in the first movement.

It’s a handful of of full chords played in blind jumps above - now below - and, like the composer’s transcription of Mendelssohn’s Scherzo from “Midsummer’s Night’s Dream,’ it’s a knuckle bender and career breaker if anything goes wrong...which explains why many pianists choose the alternate cadenza (which is quite beautiful but less hair raising and more poetic).

This listener is repeatedly excited when hearing this cadenza.

Indeed, the entire concerto recording creates somewhat of an internal yo-yo effect...not wanting to keep this in my repertoire because Wild has done it so well... but eagerly waiting for that call allowing my time with this fantastic piece.

Listen to Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor performed by Earl Wild

... on Spotify.

... on Apple Music.

... on Amazon Music.

... on Deezer.

... on YouTube Music.

... on Pandora.