Friday, November 20, 2015

BEETHOVEN Piano Concertos 1 & 2, Rondo


The piano concertos Nos. 1 and 2 are true gems of the classical canon, as Beethoven was an expert both in the art of writing for the orchestra and himself a master pianist.

“An attractive issue marked by an immaculate pianism, nimble conducting and refined sound.” --Gramophone Magazine

“- the recording is gorgeous: beautifully balanced, wide in dynamic range and utterly natural in timbre, with an arresting presence that illustrates how effective a small (38-piece) orchestra can be in this repetory.” --International Record Review



Volume 3 in the series with the complete orchestral works of Ludwig van Beethoven is ready from the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and its music director since 1997, Thomas Dausgaard. The piano concertos are true gems of the classical canon, as Beethoven was an expert both in the art of writing for the orchestra and himself a master pianist.

In the same fashion as Mozart, Beethoven wrote brilliant piano concertos that were being performed with the composer himself as soloist. The idea, of course, was to display his abilities both as a composer and a pianist to the audience and possible patrons. Arriving from the provincial Bonn to the metropolis Vienna in 1795, Beethoven built a reputation as a virtuoso that was to stay with him until his deafness was so severe that the public performance of a concerto would have been an unduly risky undertaking.

It is then in the nature of things that these concertos are forged in such a fashion as to display both compositional mastery and to exhibit what kind of magic a true wizard can do at the piano. Russian pianist Boris Beresovsky (b.1969) is such a wizard. At the age of 21 he won the Gold Medal at the 1990 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

It is a privilege to hear how the combination Berezovsky and Dausgaard/SwCO really hit it of in this music. They are enjoying themselves, surprising each other, challenging and courteous at the same time. The sounding result speaks for itself.

The Swedish Chamber Orchestra/Dausgaard and Berezovsky are touring Germany with this repertoire 21. March — 2. April 2001.

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