I recommend these for the high fidelity of the performances to beethovens spirit and style. Brendel was one of the handful of alltime beethoven masters, known for his intelligent, yet entirely musical and effective interpretations. Beethoven alfred brendel james levine 2 chicago symphony orchestra the five piano concertos live. Looking for recommendations on beethoven concerto cycle or individual recordings. Bach, beethoven, brahms, britten, elgar, gesualdo, gyorgy kurtag, mozart, schubert, and schumanns later works, both for solo piano and in collaboration with the brentano quartet. Alfred brendel kbe born 5 january 1931 is an austrian pianist, poet and author, known. We have two of mozarts most inspired creations in the instrumental genre where his genius arguably flourished best, played with heart, soul, and stylish insight. Jan 01, 2000 listen to your favorite songs from beethoven. You will know if or when you want schnabels complete set which, to some, is key to understanding schnabel and even beethoven. Complete piano concertos by alfred brendel, chicago symphony orchestra, james levine, levine, james, chicago symphony orchestra, brendel, alfred from amazons classical music store. Brendels beethoven is represented by his analogue traversal 1970 77 of the 32 piano sonatas and the 5 piano concertos, long unavailable and including the choral fantasia with lpohaitink, recorded 197677 and n.
Alfred brendel brings to these works what is often called humor but is really absolute alertness and aliveness to beethoven s experiments in unpredictability. Beethoven alfred brendel, london philharmonic orchestra. With schiff i sense the wild and deaf beethoven himself at the keyboard, with brendel i sense the status of his music on the worlds stage, past, present and. Lyraa world premiere, new york philharmonic commission by anthony cheung. His piano sontata traversal is exceptionally good i prefer the vox set to any of those ive heard in his other recordings. He recorded them before for voxwith different orchestras and conductorsperformances that. Happily, though not surprisingly, alfred brendel s fourth recorded cycle of the beethoven piano concertos shares with the previous three qualities of energy, sensibility, intellectual rigour and high pianistic finish which made the earlier recordings so interesting to contemplate. Although this was beethoven s first piano concerto to be published, it was actually his third attempt at the genre, following an unpublished piano concerto in eflat major of 1784 not to be confused with beethoven s more famous emperor concerto, also in eflat and the piano concerto no. Alfred brendel plays beethoven the 5 piano concerti. If you dont already own recordings of the hammerklavier and the diabellis, brendel is a superb choice. The sound quality is pretty good, clear, pleasant, and just lacking something in depth. We are usually taught that the bflat major concerto known.
Looking for recommendations on beethoven concerto cycle or. Levine is a fine beethoven conductor and chicago is a marvelous orchestra, but neither comes from the sort of tradition viennese that brendel brings to bear on his beethoven performances. This is the first installment in alfred brendel s second cycle of the beethoven piano concertos. His tone, sensitivity, and outlining of the musics structure is impressive. Shop and buy beethoven complete piano concertos sheet music. This 2011 box set brings together alfred brendel s first recording for philips of the complete cycle of beethoven s piano sonatas and his recording of all five piano concertos. Toward the end of his concert career he stopped playing some physically demanding pieces, such as the hammerklavier sonata of beethoven, due to arthritis. In the main, the performances testify to kissins nearly superhuman keyboard mastery, as well as to his tendency to put pianistic effect first while gliding over the. Piano concertos numeros 4 et 5 ludwig van beethoven alfred brendel, cd. Piano concertos numeros 4 et 5 alfred brendel fnac.
Now on sacd, you can indulge in the beethoven piano concertos nos. First, the 26yearold pens his delightful first piano concerto. Promotes the recording of a 3compact disc set of all of beethoven s 5 piano concertos, philips no. He has also recorded works by liszt, brahms including brahms concertos. Recorded live in 1983, alfred brendel s third goround with these works drastically improves on his previous beethoven concerto cycles. This stunning collection of beethoven s entire piano works, is a beethoven and brendel fan must have. Pages in category piano concertos by ludwig van beethoven the following 8 pages are in this category, out of 8 total. Beethovens five great piano concertos give evidence not only of outstanding pianistic skills, but also of an iron will with regard to taking great strides forward in the composition. Founded in 1959, beta film gmbh is one of the worlds leading international distributors of tv license rights with customers in over 165 countries. Jun 10, 2008 this is alfred brendel s first take on beethoven s late sonatas, recorded between 1962 and 1964. Jan 01, 2011 this classic of music criticism provides detailed studies of 23 of mozarts piano concertos. Brendel s beethoven is represented by his analogue traversal 1970 77 of the 32 piano sonatas and the 5 piano concertos, long unavailable and including the choral fantasia with lpohaitink, recorded 197677 and now packaged as a cap. Alfred brendel s recording sessions for the vanguard label in the 1960s produced one concerto coupling, and, boy, is it a beauty. My introduction to the beethoven piano concertos among my collection of vinyl recordings from the 1970s was performed by beethoven specialist john lill with the scottish national orchestra and chorus under sir alexander gibson on the emi classics for pleasure label.
The lill cycle is available on a three disc set from classics for pleasure. The compositions of ludwig van beethoven 17701827 consist of 722 works written over fortyfive years, from his earliest work in 1782 variations for piano on a march by ernst christoph dressler when he was only twelve years old and still in bonn, till his last work just before his death in vienna in 1827. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. With a career that spanned almost 60 years, brendel has played a large portion of the piano solo, chamber and concerto repertoire in the worlds great musical capitals. Beta film later expanded its radius of activity by founding beta cinema, which distributes theatrical films.
Austrian pianist alfred brendel at the piano, circa 1970. Beethoven alfred brendel, chicago symphony orchestra, james levine 2 beethoven alfred brendel, chicago symphony orchestra, james levine 2 the five piano concertos. Beethoven piano concertos kodama berlin classics 0300597bc. One of the defining influences in this latest goaround is conductor simon rattle. Mar, 2017 beethoven composed this work in 17991800, and introduced it at vienna on april 5, 1803. Moving to brendel in this movement and one is at once struck by the forward looking beethoven, already anticipating brahmss touch in the best of that later composers piano works. A045006320005 soloist and conductor rudolf buchbinder. The chicago symphony orchestra recorded beethovens first piano concerto in 1972, with vladimir ashkenazy under sir georg solti, for london, and in 1983, with alfred brendel under james levine, for philips. Jan 01, 2002 for the record, brendel has recorded the beethoven concertos, complete, four times.
The five piano concertos by alfred brendel and chicago symphony orchestra and james levine on amazon music. Complete your beethoven alfred brendel london philharmonic orchestra and chorus bernard haitink collection. Legendary pianist alfred brendel delivers a striking performance of two beethoven piano concertos. As far as the choral fantasy goes, it is the perfect piece for recordings. He, like so many others nowadays, occasionally tends to play faster than the musical notation prescribes which i find quite annoying. The main weakness of the set is a very plain emperor, which is obviously going to be a fatal drawback like a bad ninth in a cycle of beethoven. Back to the voxyouthful brendel and beethoven is a great adventure.
An array of choices confronts the consumer looking to invest in a set of beethovens piano concertos, with several decades worth of firstrate versions available. Alfred brendel piano for many collectors in the 1960s, the budget priced vox turnabout lps of the beethoven sonatas and concertos were a revelation, and. Famed conductors paul angerer and zubin mehta and the vienna symphony orchestra create rich latitudes upon which brendel shines. He has played relatively few 20th century works but has performed arnold schoenbergs piano concerto. This stunning collection of beethovens entire piano works, is a beethoven and brendel fan must have. Stream adfree with amazon music unlimited on mobile, desktop, and tablet. Brendel and levine both exhibit high energy throughout all five works, from an assertive no. For 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, piano arr.
Levine is a fine beethoven conductor and chicago is a marvelous orchestra, but neither comes from the sort of tradition viennese that brendel brings to bear on his. He is widely regarded as one of the great classical pianists of the second half of the 20th century. For the record, brendel has recorded the beethoven concertos, complete, four times. Beethoven, alfred brendel, chicago symphony orchestra. Brendel frequently performed the music of haydn, beethoven, schubert and mozart. Brendel is one of the best interpreters of beethoven s music. Erich auerbach it was the gradual accumulation of recordings that forged his reputation in the busy postwar classical bonanza. Fantasia for piano, chorus and orchestra in c minor, op.
The 5 piano concertos alfred brendel, simon rattle on allmusic 1999. Beethoven complete piano concertos by ludwig van beethoven. He finds a calmer, more direct route to the emperor concerto, although the fourths first movement is still pockmarked with finicky phrase adjustments that pull focus from the musics poetic arcs. Alas, we dont get to hear diabelli variations or the bagatelles all the sets in this collection, but we do get all five of the splendid piano concertos, the charming andante favori and the exciting choral fantasia. Biss begins examining, both in performance and academically, the concept of a composers late style, and has put together programs of j. Given evgeny kissins formidable stature in the piano world, high expectations are in order for his beethoven concerto cycle with colin davis and the london symphony orchestra. Alfred brendel, on of the worlds most famous and revered pianists, recently retired from the concert stage. Bernard haitink, who conducted brendel in a complete recording of beethoven s piano concertos in the mid70s, said last year that he doesnt take his.
Beethoven alfred brendel james levine 2 chicago symphony orchestra beethoven alfred brendel james levine 2 chicago symphony orchestra the five piano concertos live. In addition to establishing the lines along which the genre developed, the concertos also shed light upon the technical and inspirational growth of their creator. Piano concertos nos 15 rudolf buchbinder, piano and conductor vienna philharmonic orchestra. The 5 piano concertos by alfred brendel, simon rattle, wiener philharmoniker from amazons classical music store. Ludwig van beethoven, alfred brendel alfred brendel plays beethoven the 5 piano concerti choral fantasy 3 cd set music. Brendel s playing is sometimes described as being analytic, and he has said that he believes the primary job of the pianist is to respect the composers. These 1983 live beethoven piano concerto recordings relay a real sense of occasion. Piano concertos numeros 4 et 5 cd album chicago symphony orchestra cd album, import. Artur schnabel, the first pianist to record all 32 beethoven sonatas, is still held in the highest esteem by many piano aficionados and his recordings are much sought after. Alfred brendel born january 5, 1931 is an austrian pianist, born in czechoslovakia. Alfred brendel piano for many collectors in the 1960s, the budget priced vox turnabout lps of the beethoven sonatas and concertos were a.
But for the listener seeking a fine cycle of beethoven s piano concertos, im afraid brendel s latest effort comes up short. List of compositions by ludwig van beethoven wikipedia. Beethoven piano sonatas by alfred brendel on amazon music. Heres one for sentimentalists or those fascinated by the history of twentieth century piano playing. Though some musicians rerecord the same repertoire, refining the same concept over time, alfred brendel s beethoven concertos change significantly with every goaround. The first sketches go back to 1797 after he had composed the b flat piano concerto published as no. Alfred brendel kbe is an austrian pianist, poet and author, known particularly for his performances of mozart, schubert, schoenberg, and especially beethoven. Happily, though not surprisingly, alfred brendels fourth recorded cycle of the beethoven piano concertos shares with the previous three qualities of energy, sensibility, intellectual rigour and high pianistic finish which made the earlier recordings so interesting to contemplate. I am very pleased with brendel s interpretations of beethoven s piano concertos. Brendels beethoven is represented by his analogue traversal 1970 77 of the 32 piano sonatas and the 5 piano concertos, long unavailable and including the choral fantasia with lpohaitink, recorded 197677 and now packaged as a cap box.
326 45 1484 785 93 196 1446 1579 861 859 769 688 1371 1247 783 59 823 1019 787 524 315 421 254 702 123 337 1438 1357 492 44 1168 1014 10 1245 114 846 684 509 82 723 18 222 213 1267 813 501