Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 4 and 5

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It took me a while to find a performance of Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto that made me want to stop looking for a better one. I prefer these Till Fellner performances, and also his recording of Beethoven's 2nd and 3rd piano concertos with Neville Marriner/ Academy of St. Martin in the fields (on Erato), to any others that I've heard. A close contender is the box set of Rudolph Serkin's live performances with Rafael Kubelik & Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra on Orfeo. I place it in second place mostly because the sound quality (remastered from the 1977 concerts) is not quite as good (but close). As far as the 4th Concerto is concerned, I've also tried Bronfman/ Zinman on Arte Nova, but Fellner in my opinion plays with more feeling. Stephen Kovacevich/ Colin Davis on Philips is good until the final movement of the 4th, which is played way too fast. Claudio Arrau's studio recording with Sir Colin Davis/ Staatskapelle Dresden on Philips is very good, but the tempi are much slower, which is hard to get used to if you're accustomed to more moderately paced performances. I completely agree with this more articulate professional opinion by Fanfaremag's Jerry Dubins:

"Words are inadequate to describe the sheer joy I experienced at listening to this disc. I'd long ago abandoned hope of ever hearing Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto played as I've heard it in my head, and as it is played here.

"An ineffable poetry and grace illuminate their reading from within, such that I can honestly say this is how Beethoven's G-Major Piano Concerto was meant to sound. Every detail and nuance is traced with a touching tenderness and delicacy that is neither fussy nor prissy, but rather flows, as if unbidden, like an outpouring of radiant, seraphic song. This is no mere dialogue or conversation between soloist, conductor, and orchestra, but the entwining of souls in rapt concord.

"Even in Beethoven's cadenza, Fellner keeps the flashier passages in check and ferrets out the more lyrical elements. Tempos are decidedly on the moderate side, which allows the music to breathe and expand, and which I believe gives this performance its ennobling feeling. Nagano, the Montreal orchestra, and the ECM recording are as much a part of this magnificent achievement as is Fellner. The recording has a fullness, depth, and solidity to it that are equal to the very best modern technology has to offer.

"But what of the "Emperor" Concerto you must be wondering? Fellner, Nagano, and company bring much the same approach and temperament to it as they do to the Fourth Concerto. Obviously, the first movement is a more extroverted, one might even say, exhibitionistic, work. It struts and strides where the first movement of the Fourth Concerto soars and glides. Yet, even among the "Emperor's" rhetorical regalia, there are moments of tenderness and repose. And of course, it's in the great slow movement, as in the slow movement of the Violin Concerto, that we enter into another of Beethoven's dream fantasies, one that anticipates, perhaps like none other he composed, the world of Chopin.

"It's still early in the season, but this release will definitely be in the running for my 2010 Want List, and it deserves to be on every reader's list for 'Concerto Recording of the Year.' A stunning achievement by all involved." Jerry Dubins

38 year old Austrian pianist Till Fellner ' plays with scrupulous musicianship, purity of style, and sparkling keyboard command' - so agree the critics on both sides of the ocean. He is a dashing persona in live performance, always seeming at one with the composer whose works he is performing. This recording of Beethoven's Piano Concertos # 4 and #5 in the brief time since the release of this CD has become somewhat of the current gold standard among music aficionados, so clear is his concept and so perfectly balanced with the orchestral aspect of the works with Kent Nagano conducting the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal.

While there are many recordings of the complete set of five concertos of Beethoven by one pianist, so often there are hits and misses in sets such as those. Whether or not Fellner will fall into the same category is to be seen, but for now he is so secure in the performances of these two last concerti that they becomes models of interpretation. He has fire and passion when that is called for and he also has the poetry and genteel serenity when the passages enter that realm. His technique is staggering and yet does not pull attention to technique per se. He understands the conversation with the orchestra and is so very at one with the organic whole of each of these two favorite works that he makes them seem new.

Kent Nagano is a fine collaborator and the Montreal Symphony plays with supple finesse. Yes, we all have favorite pianists from the past that we hold as paragons of these works, but listen to Till Fellner and those considerations may just be altered! Grady Harp, January 11

Till Fellner (1972-) is one of the most gifted pianists of the actual scene. He proves he has personality and total conviction. His tune is admirable and his phrasing impeccable. I have watched him in video playing Mozart's 23 and the performance with the Salzburg is authoritative and fulfilling.

These performances of Beethoven's Fourth and Fifth are indeed the most remarkable in the last decade. Ken Nagano at the podium is an admirable conductor, and the experience of this notable ensemble - musical inheritors of Charles Dutoit and Zubin Meta - easies to improve still more the whole result.

Recommended without hindrances.

Even with five rave reviews here at Amazon, I approached this pairing of the Beethoven Piano Ctos. #4 and #5 with low expectations. Kent Nagano strikes me as another case of a bright young talent that has stagnated in middle age, and although my exposure to pianist Till Fellner is more limited, he has been a middle-of-the-roader when I have heard his recitals online. Do they surpass themselves here?

Perhaps they don't have to. The Fourth is more than competent on Fellner's part. In the wake of Perahia, this is well played, musical, and centrist. both soloist and orchestra proceed with respect for the score, and if that strikes me as faceless, clearly other listeners enjoy a no-surprise reading; certainly I can't complain about the lovely orchestral playing from the superb Bavarian Radio So; ECM's sonics are very fine, too, and I suspect that the taping was done by the orchestra itself, since their house label is known for its excellent sound. At just short of 19 min. the first movement is standard but feels a bit slack to me here and there. I'm not sure, but I also detect reduced vibrato in the strings (listen to the first tuttis after the piano makes its unaccompanied entrance.)

The slow movement works best, I think, if the orchestra is as powerful as possible to counter the quiet serenity of the piano. Here the effect is moderate on the part of both. the finale is quite tricky to hold together if taken as fast as Beethoven's "vivace" implies. Nagano, like many other conductors, slow the pace to moderato so that nothing goes amiss. I can't fault him, but the result is not very exciting, and Fellner keeps so close to the middle of the road that one wonders if there's a white stripe painted on the piano.

The piano gets to assert the mood of the "Emperor" through a long obbligato entry, and Fellner strikes a strong mood without being heroic. This is in keeping with the current fashion for diminishing Beethoven's revolutionary side, a trend that I find unsympathetic. But the example of Perahia comes to mind again. Fellner-Nagano follow the tracks left by Perahia-Haitink (Sony), and since critics loved that approach 25 years ago, the update will go over well. The "Emperor" is an easier piece to interpret than the Fourth. Fellner asserts himself more, and it's a genuine pleasure to hear his utterly even scales and balanced, mature outlook. Without being distinctive, Nagano goes along in kind. But be prepared fro a low-key finale compared to serkin or in more recent times Kissin with Levine, both on Sony.

Since the "Emperor" is stronger than the fourth, I can recommend this CD while remaining baffled about the preceding raves.

Till Fellner plays Beethoven exquisitely. The cadenza of the first movement of the 4th concerto is dazzling. Fellner is a credit to his mentor Alfred Brendel. I attended both of these concerts and find that the sound quality of the recording is quite comparable to the live performance, with good balance between the orchestra and the piano.

Just when you thought everything has already been said about Beethoven's Piano Concertos - along come Fellner and Nagano. These two performances have a lightness one doesn't encounter too often in Beethoven's late concertos. Fellner and Nagano really did find something one can't hear in other performances of these oft-recorded works.