Reminiscent of the Rachmaninov/Stokowski performance, especially towards the end of the 2nd movement - almost worth the price of the disc for that alone(!)

The solo performances are everything we have come to expect from Gerstein.

Thanks John. The entire album is now posted on YouTube. I also very much enjoyed the solo pieces. I encourage everyone to watch the trailer: https://www.berliner-philharmoniker-recordings.com/rachmaninoff-150.html. Lower right on the page is the trailer. WOW! The concert performance of Concerto #2 is in front of an immense packed audience. I hope they release a video of the entire concert performance.

EDIT: I poked around the Berliner Philharmoniker website. They have a "digital concert hall" webpage. I signed up for the 7 day free trial. Yes, I watched this concert. It reminds me of my college days in New Haven, CT and driving up to Tanglewood in MA. We'd sit in the grass seats, blanket spread out and drink Cabernet listening to the Boston Symphony. The webpage says their streamed concerts are offered in 4K HDR with high resolution sound (including Dolby ATMOS).
Concert Venue: Waldbühne
Concert Program, 1. Anatoly Lyadov: Kikimora, op. 63. 2. Sergei Rachmaninov: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in C minor, op. 18. 3. Fritz Kreisler: Liebesleid (arr. by Sergei Rachmaninov). 4. Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Maurice Ravel). By this time, it's dark outside. 5. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker, op. 71: Pas de deux (Intrada). Very dark by this time. Ending with 6. Paul Lincke: Berliner Luft. The whole audience participated. WOW, what a day & night filled with music.

A hugely disappointing recording. The main work recorded at 48kHz / 24 bit is an amorphous mess with poor positioning of instruments and sections, little separation of instruments and individual lines and inaccurate piano tone. How on earth in 2023 DG justifies issuing this recording as a SACD when the recording quality is arguably inferior to any modern RBCD is inexplicable.

Gerstein's solo recital that follows is far better, recorded at 192kHz in which the Steinway piano is reliably reproduced.

FYI This recording is on the Berlin Philharmonic's in house label. Nothing to do with DG as far as I am aware.

Indeed, this was issued by Berliner Philharmoniker in-house. And wasn't the concerto recorded live at an outdoor festival? That may explain the poorly engineered sound.

From Medici TV, producers of the Videos: "Every year, the world-renowned Berliner Philharmoniker finish their season in grand style with a concert at the Waldbühne, an enormous open-air venue situated in the heart of Berlin's Olympic Park. To mark the occasion, the world's most illustrious conductors and soloists are invited to join the orchestra for an unforgettable night under the stars…"

The year 2022 is the one recorded here. Sound is not the prime objective. It is a traditional "Thank you" concert for the 'Berliners'.