Beethoven: Emperor & Triple Concertos

Leon Fleisher, George Szell, Isaac Stern, Leonard Rose, Eugene Istomin, Eugene Ormandy | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Performers: Eugene Ormandy, George Szell, Eugene Istomin, Leon Fleisher, Philadelphia Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Isaac Stern, Leonard Rose
• Composers: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
• Conductors: Eugene Ormandy, George Szell
• Original Release Date: August 6, 2002
• Label: Sony Classical
• Copyright: Originally released 1961, 1965 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT (C) 2002 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
• Genres: Classical/Symphonies
• ASIN: B0013AUZAQ
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #84,496 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Music Played Superbly, March 22, 2006

By 

Mr. Timothy Baker (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 / Triple Concerto (Essential Classics) (Audio CD)

This CD offers wonderful performances of two Beethoven compositions, one very well known, the Piano Concerto #5, and the other somewhat less well-known, the Triple Concerto. The recording of the piano concerto is legendary and remains one of the greatest performances of this piece on record today. Pianist Leon Fleisher and the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by George Szell recorded all of the Beethoven concerti and this performance shows both Fleisher and Cleveland in top form. The Triple Concerto, while less well known than the piano concerto, is a wonderful piece requiring a great orchestra to really bring it to life and give it it's due and the Philadelphia Orchestra with Eugene Ormandy certainly fill the bill. The soloists, Isaac Stern, Leonard Rose and Eugene Istomin give a marvelous performance although here and there the tempos seem a bit slower than I prefer. Still, this is great musicmaking and I highly recommend this recording. By the way, I know a little something about these pieces because I am the violinist of The Amadeus Trio.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Beethoven, January 14, 2003

By 

Michael B. Richman (Portland, Maine USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 / Triple Concerto (Essential Classics) (Audio CD)

In the 1950s and 60s, CBS/Columbia (now Sony Classical) had the great fortune to have three of America's best orchestras and their conductors on their recording roster -- Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra. Nearly a half-century later, only Leonard Bernstein remains a name that even the non-classical music world knows. But in the world of the compact disc, this is a wonderful thing, because while Leonard Bernstein analog stereo recordings sell at mid-price, classic performances by Ormandy and Szell are regulated to the budget line. Well, my friends there is justice in the world because the vast majority of these "budget line" recordings are not only amazing, but some are still considered definitive more than 40 years later! One such definitive performance is this Szell recording of Beethoven's "Emperor" Piano Concerto with Leon Fleisher, and in fact the cycle of all five concertos is still something at which to marvel. Fleisher bows out on the Triple Concerto to be replaced by Eugene Istomin, and along with violinist Isaac Stern and cellist Leonard Rose they record a memorable performance. Never did something of such high quality come at such a small price. Enjoy!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Performances, Lousy Remastering of the Emperor, May 15, 2009

By 

the unamusicologist - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 / Triple Concerto (Essential Classics) (Audio CD)

The critical consensus regarding Beethoven's Triple Concerto identifies Oistrakh, Rostropovich, Richter, Karajan, Berlin PO recording as the definitive recording. While an excellent performance, I disagree with the consensus. Stern, Rose, Istomin, and, yes, Ormandy and his Philadelphians delivery superb, rhythmically incisive reading that, due to the wonderful phrasing of both soloists and ensemble, makes for more satisfying listening. Stern, Rose, and Istomin don't wear their virtuosity on the their sleeves the way that Rostropovich and, to a lesser degree, Oistrakh seem to do. In short, the Americans got their musical priorities right in a way that I'm afraid their Soviet counterparts did not.

The rightly acclaimed Fleisher/Szell/Cleveland recording of the Emperor opens this wondeful disc; other reviewers have said enough about this fine performance. I will caution, though, that the remastering suffers, especially at the beginning of the concerto, from some noticeable, fuzzy distortion. (I don't know if the defect is present in the original masters or in subsequent reissues on LP and CD of the performance.) This minor flaw doesn't detract from the overall recording, though: I recommend it highly.