I have been listening to Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 1 for over a month and has fallen in love with the piece and felt a certain connection between this piece and the sweet memories I had of my grandpa although I could not put a finger to it but would try explaining it. What got me started on the frenzy for this piece was the purchase of this piece played by Dutch Ronald Brautigam with Swedish Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra conducted by a British Andrew Parrott. What got me to purchase this SACD was the removal sale at HMV and having heard Brautigam I thought I cannot be too wrong with my selection. The CD went home with me as usual without any listening done as I normally buy a few at a time and do not want to bother the sales person too much as we have sort of become familiar with each other and greet each other on first name basis. As I gravitate towards the piece, I went hunting in my humble CD collection and found that I have 7 full versions of this piece in my collection not counting excerpts as I usually buy the full works. The 7 CDs are as follows:
1.Beethoven : Les Concertos (Zacharias/Hoelscher/Schiff-Vonk/Masure)-EMI 0946 367578 2
2.Beethoven KlavierKonzerte Nr. 1 & 2 (Argerich/Philharmonia Orchestra/Sinopoli)-DG 445 504-2
3.Beethoven Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 3 (Michelangeli/Weiner Symphoniker/Giulini)-DG 289449 757-2
4.Piano Concertos 1 & 2 (Aimard/Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Harnoncourt) Warner 2564 63779-2
5.Beethoven Piano Concertos 1 & 3 (Brautigam/Norrkpoing Symphony Orchestra/Parrott) BIS SACD-1692
6.Beethoven Klavierkonzerte Nos. 1 & 4 (Lang Lang/Orchestra de Paris/Eschenbach) DG 477 6719
7.Alfred Brendel Plays Beethoven (Brendel) VOX BOX CDX3 3502
As in the case of Chopin's piano concertos, his second piano concerto in B flat major Op 19 was actually written before his first piano concerto but the second piano concerto got published first and therefore had a lower opus number of 15. There is some opinion within a small camp of Beethoven experts that claim otherwise stating that just before the inaugural concert of the piece, it was discovered that the piano technician has tuned the piano a semi-tone below and therefore Beethoven had to play his so-called second piano concerto a semitone higher in C. However, this line of reasoning has limited following and we shall assume the posture of main stream wisdom.
The piano concerto is divided into 3 movements with a cadenza in this first movement. Beethoven himself penned 3 versions of the cadenza and of all the recordings I have, only Zacharias attempted to improvise on the cadenza and most of the other recordings made use of the original cadenza written by Beethoven. Argerich used the shorter but more difficult of the 3 versions of the cadenza together with Brautigam and the rest used the slightly longer cadenza written by Beethoven.
The first movement in Allegro con bio have the orchestra introducing the piece as usually done in concertos with the exception of a few. The piano enters with the motif that is to be the cast for much of the first movement. This motif is repeated through the various instruments of the orchestra and also with some transposition to other keys as far away as E major and then comes what seems like an abrupt end of the first movement at around the 9th minute and thereafter the motif transforms into a motif that seems far removed from the initial motif but works its way towards the initial motif towards the end of the movement for a final resolution of the movement. Of worthy mention in this movement is the amount of air-time devoted to the solo clarinet but not substantial for it to qualify as concerto of that genre.
The second movement in Largo is not a popular part of this 3 movement concerto but I must say that Lang Lang has done the second movement justice by juxtaposing his emotions into this very lyrical, romantic, waltz and slower movement. I have always equated Lang Lang's style as being over zealous in most of his other recordings but this took me by surprise. Perhaps I should have the conductor Eschenbach to thank for as you never know who is the master in a concerto; the conductor or the soloist and I still have not resolved this differential myself. I think it is more important for the conductor and soloist to have good chemistry.
The third movement in Rondo is the fastest of the 3 movements with a march like celebratory twist. Some have attributed this to the influence that Mozart's musical style might have influenced Beethoven citing similarities between this movement and Mozart's concerto K.491 as a case in point. Whichever way the debate falls into, I love this grand movement as it gives the concertos a final resolution as a celebratory concerto that is sometimes used in occasions like weddings. To add, there is quite a few humorous or cheeky sections in this movement.
Now back to the hard decision if there is a fire in the house and I only have time to save one of the 7 CDs, which would I choose. My choice would be the version by Argerich from Argentina. Her playing might not be technically as brilliant as Michelangeli, as exuberant as Lang Lang or have the originality of Zacharias but she seems to string the 3 movements very well into a complete concerto.
Cheers,,,,Peter Lye aka lkypeter
Safe Harbor. Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Peter Lye