Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, George Szell :: Beethoven/Mozart: Concerto No. 4 & Concerto No. 25

Fabulous Fleisher, Even if it's a Duplicate

Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 01/12/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Those of you whom have read my reviews previously, particularly of classical music, know how much I hate duplicated product. I mean with all the vast number of recordings available to these conglomerate companies, why do they feel the need to put the exact same performances on multiple CD titles? This disc from Sony's old "Great Performances" series features brilliant Piano Concerto performances of Beethoven's 4th and Mozart's 25th by Leon Fleisher with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra. The problem is when Sony developed the "Essential Classics" line a few years later, they reissued all of the Fleisher/Szell Beethoven Piano Concertos at a budget price, which of course I quickly bought. For years I hoped Sony would release the Mozart 25th performance on another collection, but alas they have not. So I recently ordered this disc despite the fact that it duplicated my 4th because I had waited long enough to hear the performance of the 25th. Well even after the long wait, this 1959 account certainly didn't disappoint, and in fact it is among the best Mozart 25ths I have ever heard. All is certainly not forgiven when it comes to duplication, but this fabulous Fleisher has forced me to turn the other cheek this time around."

It May Be 50 Years Old, But It Doesn't Feel Like It

Erik North | San Gabriel, CA USA | 02/13/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are some classical recordings that have such a timelessness about them that when they hit a milestone in their existence, it is flat-out impressive.



Such is the case with this 1959 recording by the great American pianist Leon Fleisher of two highly involved standards in the piano concerto repertoire: the Piano Concerto No. 4 of Beethoven, and the Piano Concerto No. 25 of Mozart. Both works may have been separated by twenty-one years of creation, but each work was important to the development of the piano concerto repertoire as it evolved throughout the Classical Era and on into the Romantic period. The 25th Piano Concerto, composed in 1786, is one of Mozart's longest concertos, at just slightly over half an hour, and is an extremely elaborate piece for any pianist to handle, and it is also in the same key (C Major) as the better-known "Elvira Madigan" concerto (No. 21) of two years before. And the Fourth Concerto, which Beethoven composed around 1807, has many of the hallmarks of the companion piece on this recording--a remarkable feat, given that Beethoven had overcome his first confrontation with deafness and had gone on a monstrous four-year streak of composing that only Mozart or Schubert surpassed, either in quantity or quality.



Both concertos are scored for roughly equal orchestral forces; and at the time of this recording, the American orchestra most equipped to handle these warhorses of the Viennese classical repertoire was the Cleveland Orchestra and its admittedly temperamental but nevertheless concise music director George Szell. In both concertos, both Fleisher and Szell definitely get along like a house on fire, and the orchestra itself, by that time considered to be one of the great classical orchestras on the planet, does an incredible job of accompaniment, befitting an ensemble well-schooled by a conductor who learned his craft by experience in Vienna, Berlin, and Prague before wisely settling in America in 1939.



This may be a fifty year-old recording now in 2009, but it sure doesn't feel like it. It truly is an important recording for any classical music fan to have in their repertoire for the sheer sake of having two genius' great concertos performed with such precision by one of America's great classical pianists, a great American orchestra, and one of the great conductors of the 20th century."

Superb music and excellent quality!

MusicRules | USA | 06/04/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Once again Szell's Cleveland Orchestra is appropriately paired up with Leon Fleisher's superb piano playing. The Mozart Piano Concerto is my all time favorite. The Beethoven is also great to hear as well."