Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Christian Gansch, Russian National Orchestra :: Beethoven: The Five Piano Concertos

Listen afresh to this music

Ralph Moore | Bishop's Stortford, UK | 09/22/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Reaction to Pletnev's way with Beethoven has been very mixed: some are exasperated by his waywardness and wilfulness, whereas others like me are delighted by his invention, wit and daring. The skill of his pianism is beyond doubt; he displays astonishing fleetness, power and dynamic control; his fingering is a thing of wonder and he clearly knows exactly what he is doing and wants to do - but it is in exactly what he does where the controversy lies. Sometimes he will deliberately and ironically puncture the gravitas suggested by the music (as in the opening of the Fourth, which is quite different in mood from any way you might have heard it played previously) or introduce sudden, emphatic rallentandos, as in the rondo of the "Emperor" - but whatever he does makes you listen afresh to the music and somehow I think Beethoven would have approved. Pletnev even insinuates a Haydnesque playfulness into some passages - which is not to say that he cannot then play others with great power and momentum. He is very free with his tempi, sometimes exaggeratedly so, and is prone to prolonged and unexpected pauses, but these usually sounds right. I have to say that I love the novelty and variety of his interpretations, especially when I compared them with the stolid predictability of Pollini and Abbado in their live 1992 set. Gansch and the excellent Russian National Orchestra do not try to compete with Pletnev for originality; they simply stay up with him and play beautifully. The live sound is splendid and I particular enjoy the richer, riper sound of the Blüthner grand that Pletnev favours; it wholly suits his extrovert approach. Perhaps this shoud not be your only set of Beethoven piano concertos and perhaps you should sample them first before buying - but I know that these might well be my first choice when I want to give these great old warhorses another gallop round the paddock and not hear just another dutiful run-through by bored-sounding professionals. "Gramophone" critic Richard Osborne was very sniffy about these performances - another good reason to buy them..."