Beethoven Emperor
Somers, Al
"Beethoven Emperor" BEETHOVEN WAS NEVER wholly pleased with his piano concertos. The reason is not clear—perhaps it was the shadow of the Mozart concertos which immediately preceded his own. But for whatever reason,...
...For obscure reasons Beethoven never played this piece in public although he did play his other piano concertos...
...I cannot imagine that Beethoven went to the effort to write the part of a full symphony orchestra for sympathy...
...Neither the piano nor the orchestra was subordinate to the other...
...however, he did perform in public after the debut of this work...
...the fourth is dark, passionate, and predominantly romantic...
...rather they were partners in support of Beethoven's creation...
...A reviewer will spend a great deal of time elaborating on the soloist's role, then will dismiss the orchestra by saying it provided sympathetic support...
...In part, this is probably the result of a star system in the recording industry: rather than being sold Chopin or Beethoven, we are sold Rubinstein, Serkin, or Solti...
...As a result, soloists have been dominant and orchestras have played only supportive roles...
...It has been suggested that his advancing deafness had compromised his technical skills...
...and the fifth completes the metamorphosis, being expansive and highly individual, and elevating the piano to equal partnership with the orchestra...
...This concerto is in three movements, the first being longer than the second and third combined...
...This is the twentieth available recording of this piece and DGG alone has two versions in circulation...
...Eschenbach was familiar to me only by name...
...My prejudgment of the performance was somewhat harsh...
...The entrance of the third movement is quite spontaneous without a clear differentiation from the second...
...This performance does not knock you off your feet but it is a good, solid, well-recorded, and balanced interpretation...
...the third remains classical in form but expands in length...
...My disc is marred by a warp which I am inclined to blame on the postal service, but just to be sure, any copy should be inspected before purchase...
...When this recording was sent to me by the editor I cringed at the thought of reviewing another performance of the Emperor...
...The balance is good between orchestra and piano...
...Out of my own ignorance I do not know his pedigree but I assume it is sound...
...This movement is bubbling in character and easily assimilated...
...Still he is young and I questioned the value of having another Emperor in the recorded literature by this combination...
...Particularly one performed by Ozawa and Eschenbach...
...But for whatever reason, Beethoven propelled the piano concerto —as he propelled all music—firmly into the romantic genre...
...Recently, however, emphasis has been placed on the soloists, not only by the reviewers but also by the individuals who decide which team will record a work...
...The Emperor was written in the midst of Beethoven's middle period after the Fifth Symphony and the Rasoumosky quartets, its first sketdhes dating from 1808...
...There are no optional cadenzas—only those composed by Beethoven...
...The former was one of Leonard Bernstein's assistant conductors...
...A balanced performance of any concerto is very elusive...
...Rather than keeping one solid performance in print, the tendency has been to record with different combinations the same basic repertoire and then allow the people in marketing and advertising to sell the product under the "newer is better" psychology...
...If you have an Emperor with which you are well satisfied I would not suggest that you run out and buy this record...
...A second side effect of the star system has been a redundancy in the recorded musical literature...
...He has built a reputation conducting the moderns and a great deal of his work has been admirable, but I questioned whether he had the experience to bring any new insights to this work...
...The first two are clearly classical in nature...
...Only the integration of twogreat performances makes a great interpretation...
...However, if you do not have a performance of this composition or if you wish to replace a worn disc with a technically re.- cent pressing, this, along with the Bishop-Davis performance, should be high on your list for consideration...
...This idiomatic transformation can be easily followed by listening to his concertos as they developed...
...The recorded sound and stereo image has DGG's usual high quality...
Vol. 8 • January 1975 • No. 4
