Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Christian Gansch, Russian National Orchestra :: Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5

Revolutionary reading of Beethoven's masterpiece

A. F. S. Mui | HK | 10/09/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are a Kempff or Serkin follower of this work, Mikhail Pletnev and the Russian National Orchestra's reading will virtually set you head spinning.

It is by far a more romantic reading than either Leitner and Kempff or Bernstein and Serkin previously endeavoured, or the more recent ones like Zinman and Bronfman, or Jurowski and Grimaud.

Pletnev and Gansch have their own way around with Beethoven's piano concerti, as already demonstrated in the previous four's recordings.

This 5th one comes in a single CD, 37 minutes plus, so DG should have taken into account the stake of making such a 'short' recording for a single album.

But the result is well worth it. Pletnev's superlative technique combined with the Russian national Orchestra under Gansch sound crisp and clear, spacious and grand. The solo parts are surprisingly alive, with the tutti responding in an equally dynamic manner.

The tempi of the various movements are far freer than any of the recordings mentioned above, but such waywardness is rewarding instead of being destructive in that Pletnev and Gansch seem to have a complete sense of where to expand, and whence to diminish. The pianism is never short of being stunning, with crystal clear runs and explosive accelerations that befit the Beethovenian character to a T. Pletnev's dynamics simply blow the listeners off, and this is rendered even more effective by the unexpectedness that accompanies his totally unconventional reading.

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