Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Ernest MacMillan (Conductor), Paul Scherman (Conductor), Sir Ernest Mac Millan (Conductor), Startime Orchestra (Orchestra), Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Glenn Gould (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Glenn Gould
• Orchestra: Startime Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Ernest MacMillan, Paul Scherman, Sir Ernest Mac Millan
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
• Audio CD (October 12, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Cbc
• ASIN: B00001X543
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #305,644 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

CBC Records' illuminating series devoted to pre-1955 Glenn Gould concert and broadcast material adds valuable perspective to the Canadian pianist's better-known studio recordings. Gould was not yet 20 when these live Beethoven performances were aired and, thankfully, preserved. Beyond question, the kid sounds like an old master. All of Gould's best qualities are firmly in place: his focused sonority, his atomic sense of rhythm, poise, assurance, and a wide arsenal of articulations. Moreover, the performances are similar in style and intent to Gould's subsequent commercial renditions, but less calculated and machine-like. Oddly, Gould takes the C Major Concerto's Rondo at a gingerly clip that markedly contrasts with the unusually fleet first movement. The latter preserves Gould tearing through Beethoven's unbuttoned cadenza, soon to be abandoned in favor of a contrapuntal concoction of his own (the one he recorded). Although the sonics are constricted and unpredictably balanced, you get more than an inkling of the Toronto Symphony's sterling, expressive string section. The perceptive annotations put these valuable performances in context, and the transfers are effected with care. --Jed Distler

Product Description

No Description Available.
Genre: Classical Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating: NR
Release Date: 12-OCT-1999

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The irreverence of the genius is always uncomfortable for the Status Quo!, January 26, 2007

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Hiram Gomez Pardo (Valencia, Venezuela) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 (Audio CD)

Glenn Gould left an indelible trace in the memory of several generations and to my mind, will keep exerting an overwhelming influence on new generations of pianists to come. And even, no matter if you don' t agree with him around certain performances, but his level of commitment, bulletproof personal conviction and admirable ideas about the musical interpretation, free of arcane conventionalisms, opened new paths in order to explore new horizons.

These are not transcendental performances, but posses his personal touch and steeled honesty which by itself means something, specially in those ages, in which the homogeneity of the sound seems to be a symptom of refined pianism.