Powerful, Riveting Beethoven
HB | Fort Mill, SC | 05/12/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This 1987 recording of Beethoven's 1st Piano Concerto is extremely powerful and riveting. The musicians are dead serious, maybe too serious. The first two Beethoven piano concerti have lots of charm and that quality is missing here. The Choral Fantasy also has lots of power and in this music, the power is justified. It is a thrilling performance and well worth the modest cost of the CD through the Amazon Marketplace.
By the way, the piano used here is a fortepiano and the orchestra uses original instruments. The orchestra's playing is simply breathtaking.
This CD is part of a series of all the Beethoven piano concerti that was recorded on the Newport label. So far I have purchased three of the concerti, this one plus 2 and 4. If concertos 3 and 5 are up to the standard of 1, 2 and 4, it is one of the best Beethoven Piano Concerto sets ever recorded. Since all the other fortepiano/original instrument recordings are currently out of the catalog, somebody should reissue these CDs."