Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3

Francois-Frederic Guy (Artist), Beethoven (Composer), Philippe Jordan (Conductor), Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France
• Conductor: Philippe Jordan
• Composer: Beethoven
• Audio CD (May 26, 2009)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Naive
• ASIN: B001U5PDZQ
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #504,398 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Guy's lyrical gifts serve him well, even if he's a bit restrained, October 20, 2010

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Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 (Audio CD)

It's possible today to still find a few pianists (Argerich, Pletnev, Kissin) who approach early Beethoven as the precursor to middle Beethoven -- emphasizing its hints of is uniquely revolutionary, heroic style -- but the times have moved on, and almost every pianist plays this work like Mozart or Haydn. The fortyish French pianist François-Frédéric Guy falls into the main camp. His tone is small and refined, his phrasing delicate, and when major climaxes arrive, he holds back from any hint of thunder. Within the limits of that approach he's quite satisfying, however, thanks to his buoyant rhythms and a tendency to lean into the line, which gives a sense of urgency and forward motion at all times.

Guy belongs to the same echelon of Beethoven players as Paul Leis in england, and since Lewis has also released a recent cycle of the give Beethoven concertos, listeners can compare and contrast. I don't find much to choose between them in Cto. #2, which suits them both very well. But Guy has a more alert and cheerful accompanist in Philippe Jordan and up-to-date sound from Naive. One of guy's strengths has been his lyrical phrasing in the slow movements of all the concertos. Only the scampering finale feels a bit underplayed and mincing to me -- he seems to run out of imagination. Even so, Guy's stylishness saves him from bar to bar.

The Third Cto. is a watershed work, and the old guard always played it as a middle-period work, presaging the big gestures of the "Emperor." The style today is to keep looking back to Haydn, but that doesn't absolve pianist and conductor from finding the emotional undertones of the C minor key (which brought out the deepest expression in Mozart, as in the piano concerto K. 491). Jordan captures a hint of mystery in the long orchestral opening before the piano's first entry, but he doesn't go as far as Bernstein for Serkin, my model of a great performance, and guy doesn't pounce like a lion when he enters the scene. All I can offer is dispassionate enthusiasm. Within the limits of a Haydnesque approach, this is a good reading, and I agree with Scott Morrison that Guy's sensitive phrasing of the Largo is a high point. But as in the finale to Cto. #2, there's not enough payoff in the finale. Guy seems to have the misguided idea that Beethoven wants restraint and balance, but why not take your cue from the way Beethoven ends his symphonies, with real brio and dash?

In the end, I'd say that Guy can't quite reach the standards set by Brendel and Perahia, if the desired goal is a harmonious mid point between Classical and Romantic, but he's certainly a stylish, appealing pianist. Among recent outings I'd give Pletnev the major advantage and Lewis a small one.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More from a Fine French Beethoven Pianist, June 19, 2009

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J Scott Morrison (Middlebury VT, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3 (Audio CD)

I have previously been very enthusiastic about the Beethoven of young French pianist François-Frédéric Guy Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 5 & Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Hammerklavier; Pathétique; Op. 49, No. 1. There is little question that he is a very fine pianist with a feel for Beethoven and with technique to burn. However, I am not quite so high on this release of Beethoven's Second and Third Piano Concertos. Partly this is because the playing of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, under Philippe Jordan, is not as good as it was on the earlier concerto recording. (This is particularly noticeable in the winds, where there is more than a little playing that is under pitch and a woody sound that makes me even wonder if some of the players -- particularly flutes and oboes -- are using 'original instruments'.) Further, the strings seem a little thin. And there are spots of inexact ensemble. Guy, though, plays beautifully. However, I can't quite get over the feeling that, particularly in the Second Concerto, he is a little bit on automatic pilot. Perhaps that is because this concerto is the most Haydnesque (or Classical) of the Five; perhaps it doesn't grab Guy as much as the others. Too often it sounds a little tinkly. The second movement, however, does plumb the depths, even with Jordan's pulling about the tempi in the lead-up to the piano's first entrance.

One can't make similar complaints about the Third Concerto. This is a fine performance with like-minded phrasing from soloist and orchestra, with apt tempi, and Olympian impact. I am particularly struck by the solo piano opening of the Largo, interestingly set in the distant key of E Major. I like that Guy does not make a big deal of those tremolo tenths but simply folds them into the general harmonic scheme. Finally, the orchestra's playing of the fugal interlude and Guy's final cadenza are brilliantly satisfying.

Scott Morrison