Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Ferdinand Leitner, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra :: Beethoven: 5 Klavierkonzerte

A basic standard cycle

Ryan Kouroukis | Toronto, Ontario Canada | 06/10/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"To me there is not much excitment in this cycle. The orchestra gives a bland reading throughout, no thanks to Leitner.



I don't know why the Berlin Phil is not on fire on this one! Kempff meanwhile excersices full genius of his powers, so on Kempff's side I give 5 stars, but the orcestra I give 2 stars. This is the best Kempff I've heard, 10 times better than his playing of the same concertos with Van Kempen in the '50's.



But the thing is, the Berlin Phil. with Van Kempen is totally inspired and on fire! The best orchestral playing of ANY Beethoven concerto cycle on record in the history of the grammphone! It's a toss up between the two Kempff cycles. You just gotta ask what you're looking for overall. My end answer lies in the fact that I own the Van Kempen set and not the Leitner set."