Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Concertos For Piano And Orchestra

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Martha puts heart and soul into her playing, and this is Beethoven like you never heard it before.

That will displease the purists, but it's fine with me. This gal can make anything zing, from Bach to Bartok, and it won't be a cookie-cutter copy of what other folks are doing.

Lars Vogt and Simon Rattle give us a lithe, zippy, joyous account of Beethoven's "1-2" Punch on EMI. Here come 1 and 2 from another direction: big-boned, big-band Beethoven that's also joyous and a pleasure every step of the way. From Bach to Prokofieff and in everything in between, Argerich is a pianist who summons up bold colors from her palette of sounds. It's that way here. Articulation is never routine, and the energy never flags. Sinopoli, may his soul rest in peace, stayed with her from start to finish. Recorded sound is a bit more cavernous than ideal, but the ear adjusts as Argerich's energetic music-making comes to dominate the frame. Some favorite Beethoven 1's would include the aforementioned Vogt, Katchen, Serkin, Kovacevich, Fleisher, an under-appreciated Lang-Lang (with Eschenbach on the podium), and this one. The 2nd (which as we all know by this time was composed first) joins Beethoven's 2nd Symphony as one of the altogether indestructible pieces of all time. I'm not sure any capable pianist/conductor/orchestra triad can ruin it. (Think of the 2nd Symphony for a moment. Can you think of a lousy recording of that wonderful work in D-major? Even in wildly uneven cycles and one-offs, #2 usually comes off pretty well.) Favorite PC # 2's include the pianists just named, along with the aristocratic Perahia/Haitink and a gorgeously-played account by Till Felner with Neville Marriner conducting on Erato. Argerich makes it to the top rung in both concertos, which makes this a self-recommending proposition.

The first and second piano concertos are far from being one of Beethoven's masterpieces. They are early works, still lacking the maturity achieved in the third piano concerto, for example. Even the great master recognized these youth pieces as minor components of his career. But this is what one can say about the music. What is important in this case is the interpretation. Miss Argerich transforms these pieces into amazing performances with one of the most beautiful and sensitive interpretations I have ever seen on record. Every note, every stroke is full of meaning and delicacy, wraped in a most feminine and subtle perspective. The orchestra, correctly conducted by Sinopoli is in the position where it is supposed to be in a situation like this: giving strong, sure support, building up a solid basis on top of which ms. Argerich can develop her work. A must have for any music fan. It will honour your collection.

Buying CDs of works freshly experienced in a live concert is not always the best mode of direction. This 1995 recording of the first two Beethoven Piano Concertos by Martha Argerich with Giuseppe Sinopoli conducting the London Philharmonia Orchestra has both good and bad points. One would think with the brilliant Argerich at the keyboard nothing could go wrong, but something is off kilter.

First, pairing No. 1 in C major, Op. 15 with No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 19 opens the conflict of which is really the first piano concerto Beethoven wrote. Beethoven dismissed the actual first concerto he wrote as juvenalia and he listed his second composed concerto as No.1, etc as goes the argument among scholars. But in all fairness the C major concerto is less 'brilliant' perhaps, but far more interesting than the composer gave it credit. The performance here shows Argerich in her comfortable though somewhat idiosyncratic mindset. The piano component is gentle and elegant but the orchestral accompaniment is a bit muddy and not the in the same light, airy, ethereal vein as the piano. Sinopoli just doesn't let the orchestra sing. Much the same can be said for the performance of the B flat major concerto but at least Argerich and Sinopoli have a similar vision here.

But as stated, perhaps having just heard a miraculously played C major concerto with the other Argentinean pianist, Gilmore Artist Award winner Ingrid Fliter with the LA Phil conducted by the meticulous and precise Charles Dutoit sets the listener up for a letdown. Fliter has the Beethoven well within her hands, mind, and heart and she offered a performance that will be difficult to emulate. So we wait a bit until she records this concerto. Meanwhile, in the long run it is difficult to fault Martha Argerich, no matter the recording! Grady Harp, March 06