"I don't think I've ever heard Bronfman play better." - Gramophone
Rudolf Serkin's 1964 recording of Beethoven's Piano Concerto in C minor is surely among the greatest recordings of the work ever made, and certainly his finest performance of the work. The energy and enthusiasm and even passion he brings to Concerto in C minor is overwhelming, and indeed, it overwhelms Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, who accompany Serkin with the sort of commitment that only a conductor and orchestra give to soloists when they are deeply inspired. But while Serkin's 1962 recording of Beethoven's Piano Concerto in E flat major is also surely among the greatest recordings of the work ever made, it is not quite Serkin's finest recording of the work.
It is no secret that there are quite a few excellent recordings of the Five Beethoven Piano Concertos available – especially Brendel (both sets with Chicago and Vienna), Kempff, Perahia, Schiff, the list goes on. However, what I find particularly stunning about Rudolf Serkin's readings of the Beethoven Concertos is the pure human element he somehow employs in his playing and at the same time his ability to transcend that same element.
This new recording of…the great D minor, K466, made last November with the LSO under Abbado, is immensely welcome. The old magic is still there: the ability to make every semiquaver in a run count: the way he can invest even quite 'innocent' music…with real meaning and character; the pathos and lyricism he brings to the slow movements; and the tension and drama he reveals in the outer movements of K466.
George Szell owned the First Piano Concerto. He played the opening movement like no one else, and he recorded the work with three outstanding pianists: Sir Clifford Curzon, Rudolf Serkin, and this performance with Anton Fleischer. When I say this is the best of the three, I'm making a tough choice, but Fleischer brings a youthful vigor and rage to the music that complements Szell's fiery accompaniment so well that they sound like they're both performing from the same musical brain.
This recording from Quebec's ATMA Classique label is a mixed bag in terms of both repertory and quality. The former aspect is a plus: the program of two Mendelssohn piano concertos plus the Symphony No. 5, Op. 107, "Reformation," is a natural mix that covers several phases of Mendelssohn's career and might easily show up on a live symphonic program, but CD marketers do not so often mix concertos and symphonies in this way. Montreal-born pianist Louis Lortie plays and conducts throughout, which Mendelssohn himself might have done, and the results are generally enjoyable.
A special limited-edition 50 CD set of the world's favourite piano concertos, sonatas and other solo pieces. A host of famous pianists perform music from J.S.Bach to Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and Gershwin. This collection of discs includes the five Beethoven Concertos, three Rachmaninov Concertos as well as concertos by Brahms, Grieg, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Schumann and Ravel as well as six Mozart Concertos.
Spanish cellist Pablo Casals ceased performing in 1946 to protest the world's indifference to the oppressive Franco regime then in power in his homeland. The silence of the cellist, then in his 70s, was keenly felt by the millions who loved him. When he returned to concertizing in 1950, at first it was only to honor Bach, who had died two hundred years before. Violinist Alexander Schneider (of the Budapest Quartet) was integral in coaxing Casals out of his silence and in planning what became known as the Prades Bach Festival.
Over 175 hours of music, featuring recordings by over 250 of the greatest Beethoven performers, ranging from Karl Böhm to Alfred Brendel, Claudio Arrau to the Amadeus Quartet, Wilhelm Furtwängler to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Emil Gilels to John Eliot Gardiner, Wilhelm Kempff to Herbert von Karajan, Yehudi Menuhin to Anne-Sophie Mutter, and Murray Perahia to Maurizio Pollini. Includes more than two hours of newly recorded music including several world premieres with Lang Lang, Daniel Hope and Tobias Koch. Over 30 discs of alternative recordings including historic performances and period instrument recordings. Limited & Numbered Edition.