I'm sorry but I think you're wrong. I don't mean that you're not entitled to your opinion, but that you shouldn't compare two such irredeemably lo-fi recordings; in particular the Rachmaninov, which was recorded 85 years ago. The flatness and thinness of the sound tells me that most of the dynamics are missing, whereas with Lisitsa's the problem is almost the opposite; the recording (which is clearly from a TV show) sounds gated and very poorly EQed. It is very harsh.

However, the major flaw in your argument concerns the authority of the composer. Western art music is, for the most part, an interpretative artform, and therefore Lisitsa's version is unquestionably as authentic as Rachmaninov's. You might prefer his - some people prefer Kissin's, or Ashkenazy's - but Lisitsa's is just as valid. So would mine be, if I had the requisite three hundred and seventy years it would be necessary to play the thing!

Thanks for the link to the Rach recording, by the way. First time I'd heard it - very interesting.

Well VL is my type! Blonde, plays piano, and could have been a top class chess player if she'd concentrated on that instead of piano.

However - I think you'll find my interpretation of the famous Etude-Tableaux to be definitive (when I eventually master it )

For those who are interested, the radio broadcasts of the concerto performances are available for the next week on the Radio 3 website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qxx51