Search - Guy, Jordan :: Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 5

Worthy Entries in the Beethoven Piano Concerto Catalog

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 06/19/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Two years ago I wrote, more than a little amazed at its high quality, about a CD of Beethoven sonatas played by a previously unknown-to-me French pianist, François-Frédéric Guy. Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Hammerklavier; Pathétique; Op. 49, No. 1 I was particularly impressed by his high voltage 'Hammerklavier' sonata and described his playing as a sort of hybrid of Sviatoslav Richter and Murray Perahia, if you can imagine. Now comes a disc containing Guy playing the first and last of Beethoven's piano concertos and it too is a real winner. Indeed I heard things in the First Concerto that made me admire it afresh. (For instance, I loved the way Guy gave a joyous loose-hipped rhythm to that 'Tico Tico' bit in the last movement.) The First Concerto has always been my least favorite of the Beethoven Five but I found myself grinning with pleasure repeatedly during this performance. His first-movement cadenza, surely Beethoven's wildest, is filled with both joy and discovery. There is both subtlety and joie de vivre in Guy's playing. The middle movement, with its Mozartean grace, is an island of lyrical repose, which makes the whirling finale all the more boisterous. One almost feels like dancing. Guy has a magnificent technique, needless to say, but he also clearly has considered every note, every dynamic and every phrase with his sophisticated musical intelligence. His accompanist in both concerti is the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under young Philippe Jordan (son of the late wonderful Swiss conductor, Armin Jordan, and soon to take over the Paris National Opera). The playing of this orchestra is not the last word in suavity and there are a few moments of less than world-class ensemble or tonal allure, but Jordan is someone to watch and it is clear that he and Guy are of one mind about how these concerti should go.



If I say that Guy's 'Emperor' Concerto is not quite on the same level as the First, this may be at least partly because recorded competition in this concerto is so fierce. Compared, for instance, with the fairly recent recording by Pierre-Laurent Aimard, with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, it seemed ever-so-slightly generic in spots. At least that was my thought the first time through, but on subsequent hearings I began to hear things from Guy that struck me was apt and highly personal. The forward drive of the martial first movement is palpable. And one almost weeps at the ineffable beauty of his second movement (and here I must add that the muted strings of the French Radio orchestra are sublime). That so-simple and yet so-effective transition directly from the end of the second to the beginning of the third movement strikes one anew as something fresh and original; Guy (and Jordan) hold back seemingly forever with that transitional material and when the finale proper begins it is like a child bursting into a room with excitement. This feeling continues through to the very end. Yes!



François-Frédéric Guy is reportedly in the midst of a several year devotion to the music of Beethoven. He is currently giving recitals in which he plays the complete set of sonatas and he apparently will be recording the remaining three concertos with the same forces in the near future. One looks forward to hearing them.



Enthusiastic recommendation.



Scott Morrison"