Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-4

Beethoven (Composer), Szell (Conductor), Cleveland Orchestra (Orchestra), Gilels (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Gilels
• Orchestra: Cleveland Orchestra
• Conductor: Szell
• Composer: Beethoven
• Audio CD (November 26, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B000002SER
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #243,589 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Beethoven Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 2 by Emil Gilels

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Beethoven!, May 7, 2000

By 

Mike Powers "mkp51" (Woolwich, ME USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-4 (Audio CD)

These are brilliant performances of Beethoven's first four piano concertos! Russian pianist Emil Gilels originally recorded all five Beethoven concertos with the Cleveland Orchestra and conductor George Szell in 1968 and 1970. Gilels plays the four concertos on this CD set with extraordinary poetic expressiveness, and the Cleveland Orchestra plays with the crisp precision always demanded by the legendary Szell. The remastered sound is absolutely outstanding. Awarded a three-star rating by the "Penguin Guide to Compact Discs," this two-CD set should not be missed my any fan of Beethoven's piano concertos.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!, August 17, 2000

By 

Kalle Kuusava (Lahti, Finland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-4 (Audio CD)

Gilels recorded Beethoven's concertos three times, and this set with Szell is simply the best. Recordings are made in the 60's, and Gilels was in his best "Beethoven-form" then. When he was younger, he preferred to super-virtuoso romantic pieces, but from 1950's he started to play Beethoven more and more. These interpretations are quite plastic, Gilels plays this like Viennesse-classical pieces should be played: everything is clear, but nothing is exaggrerated. And sound is so Gilels-like: Bright and metallic (in a positive meaning!!)! Szell proves an excellent accompanist with his superb Cleveland orchestra. A conductor who was especially famous for his interpretations of Viennese-classics. Gilels gives room to delightful solos by flute/oboe here and there - one gets a feeling that this is a chamber orchestra playing with piano in it! Not just orchestra against the piano. The tonal range is marvellous - all the different sections of the pieces can be easily understood. This double-CD contains concertos no 1-4, there is also another same-like double-CD from EMI, and that includes the fifth concerto plus Dvorak's 8th symphony and Slavonic dances!! That double-CD is also with Gilels/Szell. Unfortunately Amazon.com doesn't have it on their list, but it's easily found in classical cd stores. So, don't read this anymore, go and buy!!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars poetry in sound, October 16, 2000

By 

C. W. Lee - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-4 (Audio CD)

I cannot eulogize enough about the great Emil Gilels. His lyrical pianism, his incredible technique and unimpeachable musicality, his rare blend of power, subtlety and finesse... Listening is believing! Truly, his marvelous playing evokes feelings and reaches parts of the soul that few other pianists can. Gilels once said that he will only play music that he personally liked. He must have loved the Beethoven piano concertos then, since he recorded them more than once. The different recordings are all superb and special, not mere clones of one another.

These ones from 1968 are splendid accounts. They are more "restrained" than his earlier interpretations, in the introspective and spiritually serene style of his playing which he developed in the latter half of his life. Conductor Szell is on the same wavelength as Gilels. The renowned Cleveland plays beautifully, and integrate perfectly with the pianist. Gilels's sound has that mellow charm, with that legendary tone quality and clarity, impeccable phrasing, and the sense of underlying controlled power and energy. And his tempo is just wonderful. Gilels sets off on the jaunty #1 C-major with rhythm and elegance, and the rendition of the following Largo is so profoundly expressive, so unbearably sublime! His accounts of the next three concertos are equally supreme stuff! It's a pity that the 5th concerto cannot be included here too, due to lack of disk space, but it's easily available, as are Gilels's other Beethoven piano concerto recordings with Kurt Sanderling or Leopold Ludwig, among others. Get your hands on them, for I am sure that anyone after listening to Gilel's performances will take a part of it in their heart forever, and what can be nicer than that?