Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 4

Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 4

Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 4
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CD Details

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Conductor: Christoph Eschenbach
Orchestra: Orchestre de l'Opéra de Paris
Orchestra: Paris Orchestra
Performer: Lang Lang
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2007-05-08
Music Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Soundtracks:
  1. 1. Allegro Con Brio
  2. 2. Largo
  3. 3. Rondo. Allegro
  4. 1. Allegro Moderato
  5. 2. Andante Con Moto
  6. 3. Rondo. Vivace

Music reviews of Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 4

Music Review: Only an opinion, but a dissenting one
Rating: 3 Stars

Here, I diverge from most of the reviewers. Lang Lang's performance strikes me as marvelously balanced and effective. The Concerto No. 1 is performed here with youthful elan and high spirits in the outer movements: clean articulation and a nice bounce. The first movement cadenza is unfamiliar to me. It is not the rather perfunctory cadenza Beethoven wrote out for his pupil Archduke Rudolf (which I'm not sure Beethoven used when he himself performed the concerto; he probably improvised on the spot). The one in this recording is long. I don't know the cadenza literature; perhaps it's by Lang Lang or Eschenbach. Definitely a novelty for me; not bad. The slow movement has sentiment, yet it is cool in demeanor; we are still in a Mozartean world. The Fourth Concerto is played here with brilliance and virtuosity; Beethoven is assured and assertive and this concerto was meant as a showcase piece. Lang Lang articulates the runs and other passage work cleanly and precisely. The slow movement is ravishing in his performance: such delicacy and restraint!

The "but" part of this review rests with the "supporting cast." Let's face it, the Orchestre de Paris is not a first tier outfit. The woodwinds are particularly weak, the first clarinet is rather insensitive in phrasing and not attractive in tone. And Eschenbach is not the man to whip this ensemble into shape (perhaps a few kicked over music stands and score-throwing tantrums a la Toscanini would have helped). The ensemble work of the strings borders on the sloppy; the tuttis are leaden. I understand Eschenbach is a lovely person; Lang Lang seems devoted to him, as is Renee Fleming (the orchestral work on her Strauss disc with Eschenbach is terrible!) I just feel he is not a top-tier conductor. If the recording location had been a bit livelier, there might have been more allure to the sound, but the "room" is dead, dead, dead. Every careless entry is heard all too clearly. It's almost as bad as the dreaded Studio 8-H that Toscanini had to record in with the RCA Symphony. Lang Lang has not had good luck with his orchestral accompanists. His Tchaikovsky First with Barenboim and the Chicago was wonderful. But the Rachmaninov with Gergiev. . . not first rate. (Gergiev can be superb, but I think he cannot say "no" when asked to perform. I think if the East Transylvanian Fireman's Association Symphony Orchestra asked him to record some symphonies of Glazanov, he'd try to fit it into his crowded schedule.) G. is on auto-pilot there. Lang Lang's managers should choose his recording colleagues with great care.

So, to sort through all the above: Lang Lang 5 stars; the rest 1 star = 3 stars.
More Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 4 free music reviews:
1 2 3

Description of Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 4

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. Nimbly supported by Eschenbach's superb Orchestre de Paris, with its tradition of having been the first orchestra ever in France to perform music by Beethoven, Lang Lang's performance gives further proof as to why he is one of today's most acclaimed pianists
What a beautiful recording! Perhaps the most exciting thing about Lang Lang's playing is that when he plays softly and lyrically, he doesn't sound as if he's holding back; when he opts to stomp and yell, it sounds equally natural. The First Concerto is played with lightness and bounce in the outer movements and is as tuneful as imaginable in the stunning second movement's Largo. The Fourth Concerto is a whole other matter ? mature Beethoven ? and Lang rises easily to the occasion, playing with potency and handsome tone. The first movement makes us sit and admire his skill, and he is poetic and sensitive in the second movement. It would have been easy for him to run away with the final movement in a blaze of virtuosity, but he sticks to its classical outlines. These are superb performances, and the sonics are gloriously rich. --Robert Levine

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