Beethoven Piano Concerto 1

Lang Lang delivers his first-ever Beethoven recording, a stunning reading of the extensive Concerto no. 4 and the jubilant Concerto no. 1. Even though he has performed this repertoire extensively in concert, Lang Lang waited for the perfect moment and the perfect team to record his first pair of concertos from these milestones of piano repertoire When Lang Lang embarked on his international career, Christoph Eschenbach became one of his first and most enthusiastic proponents - and a mentor and close friend ever since, Eschenbach was the ideal collaborator for Lang Lang's first Beethoven recording.

In their own way Beethoven’s five piano concertos relate a part of their composer’s life. In the previous volume of this complete recording, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Pablo Heras-Casado and the musicians of the Freiburger Barockorchester explored the beginning (Concerto no.2, a springboard to Viennese fame) and the end (the ‘Emperor’) of the story. They now turn to the most personal of all the Beethoven concertos, the Fourth which, at a time when the spectre of total deafness threatened his career, shattered the conventions of the genre - as did such orchestral works as Coriolan and the Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus.

Arrau's "Emperor" reveals more angst in the first movement development than most other performances, giving the whole work an added depth of feeling. Some listeners may prefer greater general liveliness, especially in the finale, but I find the approach wholly convincing in scale and so beautifully executed as to silence criticism. Technically speaking, these performances always sounded marvelous, and they still do. Unforgettably grand.

”… However, not only is Davis more in sympathy with Arrau's majestic approach, he's got the incomparable Staatskapelle Dresden backing him up. The result is a Fourth Concerto for the ages: just listen to Arrau's silky-toned opening, the soft hush of the violin section's entrance leading up to the thrilling subsequent crescendo. And the slow movement! Words can't do it justice, nor can they capture the finale's wonderful sense of vigor within repose.”

These Beethoven performances were recorded in 1960 during Sviatoslav Richter’s first tour of the United States, and they sound marginally fuller and more vivid here than in RCA’s deleted Papillon series transfers. The C major concerto has a lot to recommend it. Richter’s Olympian command and control of the keyboard, tonal solidity, and emotional reserve remind me of the Michelangeli/Giulini and Pollini/Jochum versions from nearly two decades later. Charles Munch’s robust and powerfully projected accompaniment proves how underrated this conductor was (and still is) in the central German repertoire, although Szell’s sharper accents and astringent textures better suit the music’s witty subtext.

Rather than opt for superficial barnstorming, Yefim Bronfman and David Zinman offer us a discreet, subtly voiced and above all durable Emperor, a version that I’ve already listened to a number of times with increasing musical dividends. Bronfman plays with a light, precise though never brittle touch, always phrasing elegantly and dipping his tone whenever important instrumental lines need to be heard. A good sampling-point arrives at around 7'10" into the opening Allegro, where clearly audible rising string figurations (the cellos) busy away beneath the solo line; then a couple of minutes further on, note how the woodwind lines descend while lightly bowed strings scurry upwards.

Originally released between 1976 and 2007, the offerings in this eight-CD box set represent Maurizio Pollini's exemplary concerto recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, including all of Ludwig van Beethoven's cycle, the two piano concertos by Johannes Brahms, and six of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's masterpieces in performances that rank among the pianist's finest.

Originally released between 1976 and 2007, the offerings in this eight-CD box set represent Maurizio Pollini's exemplary concerto recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, including all of Ludwig van Beethoven's cycle, the two piano concertos by Johannes Brahms, and six of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's masterpieces in performances that rank among the pianist's finest.

Paramax Films captured the concert by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at its resident venue of Charles Bronfman Auditorium in Tel Aviv in July 2015 conducted by Zubin Mehta and starring Georgian concert pianist Khatia Buniatishvili. The film showcases a performance of the piano’s most famous orchestral repertoire; Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 1 and Liszt’s virtuosic Piano Concerto No 2 with its waves of sound.