Piano Concertos No. 4 & 5

I was a bit leery about investing in another set of the Beethoven concertos, having bought one already and been very disappointed. The price was bargain basement though so I took a chance. Boy am I glad I did. What Christian Zacharias and Hans Vonk do with these 5 warhorses is magical.

I'll start with concertos 3 and 5. I've always considered these two to be the most tricky to perform well. To me they're the most lush(?) of the set. I've heard so many recordings where in the many sweeping motives the soloist seems determined to define every note and ignore the big picture of the rushing waves of sound coming at you. On the other hand, I've also heard ones where articulated passages are muddy and just plain lazy. None of that is heard here. Zacharias knows exactly the right style to use and where to use it.

As for 1, 2, and 4, apply that same stylistic precision and you can pretty much make your own judgement as to how they come across. Perfection.

The orchestra gives us the perfect background for the works. Stepping up to the center stage when needed, and providing the perfect amount of support for the soloist when required to do so.

So, all in all, this set is worth every penny. I'd have even paid more for it had I known how great it is. Luckily, we don't have to since it's offered at such a great bargain.

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