Search - Richard Goode :: The Complete Beethoven Piano Concertos (3 CD)

A top choice among budget Beethoven concerto cycles

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 05/12/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Since Richard Goode has earned a reputation for his Beethoven and Ivan Fischer has earned his for giving fresh interpretations of standard repertoire (mostly Czech and Hungarian), this set of Beethoven concertos bids fair to be one of the top choices. The bargain price is another incentive. I should state right away that the bloom is off the rose for me when it comes to both Fischer and Goode, but I will do my best to report what I hear without bias.



Concerto #1 -- As one would expect, Goode takes a classicist's view of early Beethoven, using the same touch and force that he applies to Mozart. In that vein he is very accomplished, although I've heard more sparkling and animated renditions. The pianist feels that he shouldn't provide personal touches where the composer doesn't call for them, so accents and dynamic shadings tend to be spare. Fischer accompanies with a light touch, fully sympathetic to the pianist. Everything is smooth, accomplished, and unadventurous. Within that framework, the nicest part of this Concerto #1 is Goode's lovely phrasing in the slow movement.



Concerto #2 -- Given how placid the first concerto is, I expected the same in the second. Fischer's orchestral introduction is a model of lively classicism, with touches of elegance that must be appreciated -- too many conductors dutifully trudge through this part of the job. Fischer's accompaniments would be lovely to listen to without the piano. Here again I find Goode correct and skilled but without "face." The playing is sleek but colorless, unless you happen to favor his reticent style, which many do. I'm pleased that the slow movement remains a real Adagio and isn't pushed to be Andante. Both conductor and soloist phrase beautifully. Among "touch pianists" Goode deserves the praise given to him. He shows a bit more liveliness in the finale than he did in Cto. #1, but the overall effect is civilized rather than ebullient.



Concerto #3 -- The C minor marks a turning point in Beethoven's concerto writing, and as a transitional work it gives performers the option to look forward or backward. I much prefer the strong, even heroic forward vision of a Serkin, but Leon Fleisher has shown that one can look backward to the classical era while remaining exciting. Although I knew what was coming, it disappointed me that Goode and Fischer are so resolutely classical that the third shows almost no sign of Beethoven's future. Still. they are stylish and alert, and Goode manages to build up some excitement in the development section of the first movement, within limits. As before, the slow movement is beautifully realized, to the point that I found myself being moved for the first time in the cycle. But Goode's measured pace in the finale contradicts what Beethoven wants, I think, which is real force and power (see Serkin and Bernstein in their exuberant reading on Sony).



Concerto #4 -- The Forth brings us into the world of mature middle-period Beethoven and therefore calls upon every shred of imagination and vision that a pianist can supply. Or you can keep going the way you were. With his polite solo introduction to the first movement, Goode announces that he is actually going to be more civilized than he was in the Third Concerto, and unfortunately Fischer doesn't goad him to anything greater. Even Brendel, who is too reserved for me in this work, thunders like Richter compared to this. Goode's best showing comes in the reflective sections of the first movement and, as ever, the slow movement. But don't expect Daniel in the lion's den; the dialog with the orchestra is decidedly tame. The finale is taken quietly but stylishly, if that's your bag.



Concerto #5 -- By now the listener will either take Goode on his own terms or seek more heroic readings. I imagine that many will stick the course. In this era of house-trained Beethoven, even the Emperor concerto can be played at half power and please audiences. Goode shows considerable technical assurance here, but of course his interpretation isn't remotely heroic. I can't argue with the flowing, songful slow movement, here played as soothing night music. Goode fudges the technical demands of the finale with slow tempos and cautious phrasing, but for once Fischer rises to the occasion with a forceful accompaniment where it's called for.



In all, this is a cycle that has few flaws if you accept Goode's well-known classical style. The sound is fine, and Fischer's Budapest orchestra performs stylishly. It's a shame that every concerto seems cut from the same cloth. I don't imagine that Beethoven felt the same as he moved from youth to maturity, and we have every reason to believe that he was a fiery, tempestuous pianist himself. Absent that kind of temperament, Goode acquits himself in a civilized manner. Tea, anyone?"

Pass

Prescott Cunningham Moore | 08/27/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"First and foremost, the late Michael Steinberg's notes for this set are superlative, showcasing, yet again, his ability to say in one sentence what other writers could only say in a book. Direct, clear, and eloquent. If only the performances themselves matched the quality of Mr. Steinberg's writing.



I wanted to like this set, having enjoyed both Goode in his complete cycle of the sonatas and Fischer in his wonderful recording of the Seventh Symphony with these forces. However, I am sad to say that I actually had quite a negative reaction upon first hearing this set, a reaction that has improved little over repeated hearings.



As a technician, Goode cannot be faulted. There are no real issues with his ability to play all the right notes. Additionally, Goode does often shape some beautiful phrases, especially in the slow movements. Take, for example, the stunning opening to the largo of the Third Concerto. The opening is delicate, bordering on precious, but is pregnant with possibility and leads into the orchestral restatement better than many others while the dreamy central section flows magically. Or take the wonderful cadenza of the allegro of the First Concerto; Goode really brings an energy and an improvisatory quality that is all too often missing from this music. Dramatic, sweeping lines punctuated with bursts of humor all register in Goode's hands.



However, on the whole, Goode's matter-of-fact playing sounds overly manicured, precious, and lacking in heft. Indeed, Goode does little to highlight any unique aspects of this music, delivering a performance that is very literal. In essence, his playing is predictable. And I say predictable, not in the sense that we know what is going to happen next (we all know this music well), but in the sense that Goode's playing anticipates what is next in a way that robs this music of its intrinsic excitement. Goode slows down before big cadences, trims Beethoven's thornier edges, and seems to remain within a dynamic comfort zone that, while beautiful, is never exciting. His playing never smiles, never frowns, never jeers, never laughs. It is as strict a reading as you are likely to hear.



Fischer's contribution, if anything, only worsens the effect of this set. There is a difference between a historically informed performance and playing that sounds emasculated, neutered, and uninvolved. The Third Concerto is probably the worst, where Fischer and his orchestra never deliver anything above a mezzo forte. Nor does the orchestra have much color. The strings fail to bite the way they should in the development of the Emperor's allegro. The rondo of the Forth is in bad need of weight from the lower strings and timpani. And the first concertos sound almost desiccated, with puny wind sounds and an uninvolved string accompaniment. Additionally, Nonesuch's recorded sound is about as grey-toned as you'll find from a modern production.



I am sure many listeners may take issue with this review. Indeed, this set was nominated for a 2009 Gramophone Award. That being said, I find this release somewhat off-putting, dare I say insulting, to suggest that performances like this are historically informed. Historically informed performances, as the name suggests, are adopting performance techniques, orchestra layout, and chamber-sized proportions to replicate the performance conditions when these works were premiered. To begin with performance technique, to say that Goode's immaculate playing emulates that of Beethoven, who produced nearly inaudible pianos and fortes so crushing he routinely broke instruments, is absurd. Additionally, the best period instrument and chamber orchestra's alike produce greater forte's and more engaging playing than anything recorded on this disc, where the players just seem to be going through the motions.



This set seems an unsuccessful duplication of Bronfman's cycle with Zinman and the Tonhalle. Both adopt a "HIP" approach to the music, and both play cautiously, but Bronfman creates so much more color and brings out so much more detail than Goode does here. Similarly, Zinman and his band show how an orchestra can play with a consciousness of the past without sounding desiccated. Still, I prefer my Beethoven to have contrasts and energy, where players are not afraid to make daring sounds and play with vigor. In that respect, the legendary Fleisher Szell set remains reference, and rightly so. That set's debonair Second concerto embarrasses the present sets b-flat major. Listeners wanting more energy may also want to turn to either Brendel and Levine or Ashkenazy and Solti, both with Chicago. The Brendel set never made much sense to me because Brendel was, well, Brendel while Levine seemed overly excited. Ashkenazy and Solit eschewed sensitivity and subtlety for explosive playing, which worked in the odd-numbered concertos. However, both sets offered more color than the present. Serkin, either with Ozawa or Bernstein, was a wonderful Beethovenian in the concertos. Perahia Haitink, Uchida Sanderling, and even Ax Previn offer more than this set.



A regrettable pass."

Beethoven P Ctos 1-5: Richard Goode is himself, BudapestFO u

Dan Fee | Berkeley, CA USA | 05/14/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Let me start with fair disclosure. I've so far had a blind spot when it comes to Richard Goode's highly praised complete set of the Beethoven piano sonatas. I even felt unmoved after hearing Goode play the sonatas live in a local concert. My immobilities have nothing to do with Goode playing poorly or hitting wrong notes or taking eccentric tempos, no, none of all that. I just find him entirely too reticent, also-ran, and the recorded piano sound Nonesuch gave him in the sonatas strikes me as always grey, grey, grey.



I felt this way about Abbey Simon's Chopin, until many years later I reheard the set and felt engaged and moved, whereas I had previously only heard a middling fine reticence. So I guess my individual jury is still out on Goode and Beethoven.



Then, bumped into this complete set of the piano concertos. What's up?



Well. Goode seems far more influenced in this set - through all concertos, one to five - by HIP manners. His playing is not nearly so grey as I recall the keyboard sound to be in the complete sonatas; and he manages quite a bit of sparkle and sway, in tonal silver and in phrasing. All of that I hear as remarkably more engaged with the music, with lovely phrasing in the middle slow movements, too.



Fischer in Budapest with the festival band that he has more or less made him own - check out his BFO Bartok or Dvorak, to hear what this band can do? - keeps up very well with Goode. Again, HIP comes to mind in the best sense, that is in service of rethinking and re-involving oneself musically with the composer. Nothing eccentric, nothing exaggerated. No hyped romantic languishing over phrasing, harmonic narratives, the build ups in musical paragraphs, or those grandly humanist breakthrough moments we think mean, Beethoven that Revolutionary.



All of this goes well enough in the first four concertos. Now I like to hear the third and fourth concertos turning into something besides good classical manners; but Goode and Fischer do run a fine ship, poised and lively, so playing right through to the third and fourth is not being neglectful of the music necessarily.



My own personal big disappointment in this set is the fifth concerto. It goes along, pretty much in the same manner that the previous four concertos have sounded out. Again that is a legitimate musical view; though I feel more charmed and soothed in passing by its HIP manners, than I feel awed and inspired by any sweep that could ever occasion somebody to spontaneously call the fifth, an Emperor among piano concertos.



Good stars then, for the reading and for the sound. If a current catalog comparison for this approach leaps to mind, it surely must be the very good set by Yefim Bronfman, with David Zinman leading the Tonhalle Zurich. They pretty much hold their own and then some, compared to Goode and company. Like Goode, I felt let down by the happy classical approach to the fifth concerto.



Since the Bronfman-Zinman set is also very good at conveying this Hip model or view of the composer, and since the Tonhalle forces induce no quibbles at their fine playing, I guess this set weighs out as mainly for Richard Goode fans. Of whom I am sure we have many.



Do check our the Yefim Bronfman readings, with Zinman briskly helming his Tonhalle players. Their set is even cheaper, with absolutely no loss at all in sound or performance values. If you've heard and liked Zinman's Beethoven symphonies, you will probably like those piano concertos, too. My top Zinman-Tonhalle Beethoven recommendation is, above all, the Missa Solemnis. I can take his violin concerto, too, but for some reason that great mass really gets me going."