Beethoven: Complete Piano Concertos (Alfred Brendel: Piano Concertos 1-5 w/Levine, CSO; "Choral" Fantasy, Op. 80 w/ Haitink, LPC, LPO) [Box set]

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), James Levine (Conductor), Bernard Haitink (Conductor), Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), London Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra), Alfred Brendel (Performer), London Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Alfred Brendel, London Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra
• Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: James Levine, Bernard Haitink
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
• Audio CD (June 11, 2002)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 3
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Philips
• ASIN: B000065TV4
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,394 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Applause? Yes!, March 26, 2004

By 

T. Beers (Arlington, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Complete Piano Concertos (Alfred Brendel: Piano Concertos 1-5 w/Levine, CSO; "Choral" Fantasy, Op. 80 w/ Haitink, LPC, LPO) (Audio CD)

Well, unlike the other reviewer, I don't relish the prospect of listening to music while huddled over, next to, or anywhere near my computer while it's briskly editing out all traces of life from my listening experience. As a matter of fact, I like the performances on this disc because they are so beautifully realized in front of a live audience, whose applause isn't unwelcome at all. It just reminds me that music, like dance, is an art form that requires human performance and reception. More live music making please; it's the only kind that matters. And if live concerts can be recorded as beautifully as Philips recorded these Beethoven concerts, so much the better! For the record, Brendel has recorded the Beethoven concertos, complete, four times: first on Vox, then three times for Philips. This set strikes me as his most successful. 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. I think that very difference of backgound/culture worked to produce a marvelously stimulating encounter, fully appreciated by the Ravinia Festival audience. In fact, you can sense electricity was in the air. I only regret I wasn't there, but at least I have this souvenir of a remarkable human encounter producing glorious music! (By the way, that sense of electricity is missing from the studio-manufactured performance of the Choral Fantasy included on this set. It's a perfectly respectable performance, but it just doesn't register with the same sense of occasion that positively leaps out at you when you're listening to the concertos.)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pity they didn't remaster it., May 4, 2010

By 

DA Phillipps (NZ) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Beethoven: Complete Piano Concertos (Alfred Brendel: Piano Concertos 1-5 w/Levine, CSO; "Choral" Fantasy, Op. 80 w/ Haitink, LPC, LPO) (Audio CD)

I spent a considerable amount of time searching through the several versions of these concertos that are available at Amazon. Bless their audition tracks! Finally I settled on Alfred Brendel's version. His interpretation is perfect IMO. The recording is not. It is acceptable though, and the magnificence of the music and its performance makes up for the fuzziness of what should have been better recordings. They're not all that old- 1977 for the Fantasy and 1983 for the Concertos.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Recording, July 6, 2004

By 

R. Albin (Ann Arbor, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Complete Piano Concertos (Alfred Brendel: Piano Concertos 1-5 w/Levine, CSO; "Choral" Fantasy, Op. 80 w/ Haitink, LPC, LPO) (Audio CD)

This is an excellent set of recordings by the outstanding Alfred Brendel. The orchestral work is similarly excellent. Aside from the uniform excellence of these performances, the best thing about this set is that it provides a really nice picture of the evolution of Beethoven's compositional style. The relatively uniform orchestral and soloist approaches allows a comparison of Beethoven's compositional styles. While recorded with a modern orchestra and a modern piano, the 1st and 2nd concertos display the more Classical style of Beethoven's earlier work. The 5th and final, Emperor, concerto, is an outstanding example of Beethoven's mature and fully Romantic style.