Beethoven: Triple Concerto; Overtures

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Herbert von Karajan (Conductor), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra), Mark Zeltser (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Mark Zeltser
• Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Herbert von Karajan
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B000001G63
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,388 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #35 in Music > Classical > Instruments > Strings > Cello

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Triple Concerto.....Mutter? Yo-Yo Ma? Perfect!, June 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Beethoven: Triple Concerto; Overtures (Audio CD)

Recording of the Triple Concerto is soundwise, very good. Performance is superb! This is one of my absolute favorites...if you have not heard it, you are missing a great piece of work! Highly recommended! There is also another recording of this out with Karajan and the BPO with Rostopovich, Richter, and Oistrakh...also a fabulous recording...I have both. If I was stuck with just a couple of CD's on a desert island (with a lot of batteries), this would be one of them.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful, fresh Triple Concerto, February 16, 2007

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Triple Concerto; Overtures (Audio CD)

To settle the dispute over dating this CD, the three overtures were taken from much earlier sessions (1965-70) to fill out the 1980 Triple Concerto. Karajan led a blockbuster version of this work with the incomparable trio of Richter, Oistrakh, and Rostropovich (on EMI), so it was an audacious move to try and repeat the feat. He was wise to spotlight three young soloists rather than grand lions. Yo-Yo Ma and Anne-Sophie Mutter went on to great fame, of course, and they overshadow the now-forgotten Mark Zeltser, but he's light, bright, and sparkling, as is the performance as a whole. (Strangely, however, Ma has some intonation problems that mar the first movement.) Karajan lightens his accompaniment from the earlier version and takes faster tempi. I've heard other readings with a more heroic trio of soloists, but the presence of a great Beethoven conductor and the wonderful Berlin Phil. is a major asset here.

I'm a bit less happy with the three overtures. All are played on a grand scale, particularly the earth-shattering Egmont, which comes off best. The Coriolan sounds majestic but feels emotionally inert to me, with Karajan attempting to prettify the great development section, and the Fidelio Over. is rather too grand and foursquare. All are magnificently played, needless to say. I am giving five stars to the Triple Concerto and perhaps the Egmont Over. in a pinch.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent!, September 18, 2010

By 

Mark Long "historian" (Central Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Triple Concerto; Overtures (Audio CD)

Generally, I am not fond of Von Karajan's Beethoven recordings. This definitely is an exception. I think it is excellent in every way. Fine performances all around are matched by a solid recording. And the wonderful, although often neglected, concerto is nicely balanced with the master's most famous orchestral overtures.