Beethoven: Piano Concertos/Choral Fantasy

Read About This Recording

Though Alfred Brendel's repertoire exhibits both admirable depth and scope, perhaps his most enduring monuments will be his Beethoven piano works. His keyboard mastery is a byword for perfection, profundity, self-effacement and textual illumination.

During the 1960s, he became the first pianist ever to record the entire piano works of Beethoven on the Vox label — a set which, in the opinion of one critic, contains "some of the finest Beethoven ever recorded." These landmark recordings brought him critical attention and identified him to the public. A great musical adventure — with tone, sensitivity and an outlining of the music's structure — the recordings are quite impressive and the concertos are presented here. As the piano concertos are all well-known and deserve attention for obvious reasons, perhaps it is this recording of the Choral Fantasy that is the jewel of the set. Marking Beethoven's first complete attempt to marry instrumental with choral music, the Fantasy became an early precursor to his revolutionary Ninth Symphony, which he would complete 16 years later in 1824. The set is an amalgam of orchestras and conductors — with the Vienna Symphony led by Heinz Wallberg (Concertos Nos. 2, 3 & 4) and a young Zubin Mehta (Concerto No. 5 "Emperor") along with the Stuttgart Philharmonic led by Wilfried Boettcher (Concerto No. 1 & Choral Fantasy) — all up to the task.

Alfred Brendel has become the quintessential interpreter of early Romantic music (particularly Beethoven and Schubert) and this worthwhile Vox set gives the listener a chance to hear the young Brendel at the beginning of his illustrious career, offering us a portent of things to come of the man who has been viewed as a self-appointed guardian of the "classical" heritage.

—Terrence London

Quotes

"He was at his best: relaxed, sensitive and spontaneous. Mr. Brendel captured the music's fantastical elements in his vibrant yet lucidly structured performance." —The New York Times

Contents

Piano Concertos: No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15; No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 19; No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37; No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58; No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73 Emperor; Fantasy for Piano, Chorus & Orchestra in C Minor, Op. 80 Choral Fantasy.

Alfred Brendel, Piano; Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra; Orchestra of the Vienna Volksoper; Vienna Symphony Orchestra; Stuttgart Lehrergesangverein; Wilfried Boettcher, Heinz Wallberg, Zubin Mehta, Conductors.