Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 5

Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Zinman - Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 5

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 5
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CD Details

Artist: Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Zinman
Brand: Zurich Products
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2006-11-14
Music Label: Arte Nova Classics
Soundtracks:
  1. Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major ('Emperor'), Op. 73: 1. Allegro
  2. Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major ('Emperor'), Op. 73: 2. Adagio un poco mosso
  3. Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major ('Emperor'), Op. 73: 3. Rondo: Allegro
  4. Fantasia for piano, chorus, and orchestra ('Choral Fantasy'), Op. 80
  5. Meeresstille und gl?ckliche Fahrt (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage), cantata for chorus & orchestra, Op. 112

Music reviews of Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 5

Music Review: Fine Choral Fanstasy; So-so Emperor
Rating: 3 Stars

The best part of this disc is the fine rendering of Beethoven's "Choral Fantasy," a one off combination of the fantasy, piano concerto, and cantata. I'll admit to a fondness for the work that goes back to my first exposure to it as a filler for the Serkin/Bernstein recording of the Beethovan Piano Concerto No. 3 on a Columbia Lp. Bronfman's playing, the clarity of the orchestra, and excellent choral work combine to make this a very good performance indeed.

I'm not very enthusiastic about the "Emperor". First, Bronfman uses excessive rubato in the opening florishes of the first movement. In the development, the octave passages are well played but mechanical. Listen to Serkin (with Bernstein) for the ideal of virtuosity at the service of expression. Bronfman's expressive playing (and Zinman's faster than usual pacing) of the second movement is the highlight of the performance. The conductor nails the Adagio un poco mosso at an appropriate walking pace. Unfortunately, the finale disappoints as overblown with too many fussy rhetorical gestures. The Tonhalle's tonal polish isn't up to its own standards established in the Beethoven symphony cycle and recent Mahler releases - the latter probably enhanced by excellent SACD engineering.

For my money, Serkin and Bernstein (1962) established the gold standard for the "Emperor". Serkin's playing is imperious and expressive with Bernstein providing like-minded support. Brendel with Levine and the Chicago Symphony is my second choice. Bronfman doesn't add anything to what these artists had to say about the piece.

At the budget price, this is an OK "Emperor" coupled with an outstanding "Choral Fantasy'"

Description of Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 5

"An Emperor which offers increasing musical dividends - an unmissable bargain ... There are plenty of big-name Emperors around, but this latest entry holds its own against any competition. Yefim Bronfman's touch is light and fleet, while he, David Zinman and the Tonhalle Orchestra form a warmly responsive partnership." - GRAMOPHONE EDITOR'S CHOICE

Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 1958, Yefim Bronfman immigrated to Israel at the age of thirteen and later to the U.S., where he pursued his training at the Juilliard School and the Marlboro and Curtis Institutes under Rudolf Serkin, Rudolf Firkusny, and Leon Fleisher. Bronfman celebrated his international d??but in 1975, accompanied by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under Zubin Mehta. He soon acquired an excellent reputation as a pianist on the stages of the world's major concert halls. Highlights of recent years include concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, and the Vienna Philharmonic. Yefim Bronfman also gives regular piano recitals in the leading concert halls of the United States, Europe, and the Far East. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with the Emerson, Cleveland, Guarneri, and Juilliard Quartets. Other long-term musical partners include Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Lynn Harrell, Shlomo Mintz, and Pinchas Zukerman. Born in 1936, American conductor David Zinman has risen to the pinnacle of his career in the last decade. After bringing the Baltimore Symphony to major status, he became musical director of the Aspen Music Festival and then took the helm of Zurich's beloved Tonhalle Orchestra. Zinman's discography of some one hundred recordings has won five Grammys and two Grands Prix du Disque. Ever since 1999, when the Tonhalle Orchestra was awarded the German Record Critics' Award for its seminal recording of all Beethoven's symphonies, the oldest symphony orchestra in Switzerland has been the focus of international interest. Under the leadership of David Zinman, the Tonhalle Orchestra has undertaken a number of successful concert tours throughout Europe, the U.S., and Japan. In addition to its concerts at home and its touring schedule, the orchestra and Zinman are devoting increasing time to recording projects. Beethoven's "Emperor" concerto is the most dramatic of his five piano concertos, and one of the most popular in the entire genre. First performed in 1812, it is still a concert staple. First-time listeners to Beethoven's "Choral Fantasy" are inevitably taken aback by its similarities to the far more famous final movement of the Ninth Symphony, and indeed it was to become a sort of model or study for that magnificent finale. The "Choral Fantasy" was especially written for a mammoth concert of Beethoven's works given in December of 1808. Seldom heard in concert today, Beethoven's dramatic choral piece Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage was composed in 1814/15 to two poems by Goethe, and dedicated to the great German poet who received a copy of the score from Beethoven in 1822, the year of its first performance.

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