Artur Rubenstein with Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony playing Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini.
This is one of those old school RCA records that knock it out of the park sonically. Just arrived today. This one is probably from about 1964, a White Dog label, that to vinyl aficionados is as good as the more ballyhooed shaded dogs.
I've got an earlier pressing, but it's a bit noisy, and this one is NM-.
Rubenstein has fallen a bit out of favor in the 21st century, but he is a master of sound whose technique is strong enough to support his interpretation. The RCA engineer, Lewis Layton (always excellent) is at his best.
The melody that everyone know is just hauntingly beautiful.
The Absolute Sound got this one right when it went one their list of excellence.
Side B is Falla's Nights in the Gardens of Spain, from a different performance with the San Francisco Sym. Almost as good as the Rachmaninoff.