Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Thomas Dausgaard, Swedish Chamber Orchestra :: Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3; Triple Concerto

Very Mozartian piano concerto, pretty good triple

Larry VanDeSande | Mason, Michigan United States | 08/25/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Oddly, this CD -- and the others in the Thomas Dausgaard-Swedish Chamber Orchestra chain of Beethoven symphony recordings -- is only now being promoted in the U.S. during a time when this recording isn't available. Take heart persons that like this sort of rendition, for it is available in Britain and elsewhere in Europe and can be located from your favored outlet across the pond.



This was my first acquisition of a new Beethoven piano concerto recording since I bought the Barenboim-Klemperer box of concertos, recorded in the 1960s, on CD about 5 years ago. There is almost no comparison between this recording of the Piano Concerto No. 3 and that one, or between this one and any older "classic" recording.



That's because Dausgaard and his partners -- in this case Russian pianist Boris Berezhovsky -- use the now popular technique of mating modern instruments with period performance style. For Dausgaard, this means exceptionally clipped phrasing in orchestral tutti. For Berezhovsky, it means adhering to the faster speeds and lighter style of performance than people knew in the 1960s and before, when recordings of this concerto usually tried to shake the heavens.



In contrast, this pair sounds more like mature Mozart in this music than mature Beethoven. Indeed, this recording, more than any other I've ever been of this opus, reminded me of late Mozart. The music more dances than exhorts and is given far more to a legato than percussive or marcato approach.



I think all the players do fine in the concerto. The orchestra plays well -- although people that don't like thin sounding strings won't like this -- and the pianist does a fine job. My sole complaint about their combined approach is they get so quiet in softer music that I had to turn up my stereo to hear everything. This becomes problematic if there is any competing noise when you listen.



I found the Triple Concerto more typical Beethoven and more like the work of the high priest of Beethoven period performance, Roger Norrington. For me, this is a good thing. I like Norrington's way with Beethoven and have always found it highly stimulating and satisfying. If you haven't and/or don't, you probably wont' like this version of the concerto.



The three soloists here -- violinist Mats Rondin, pianist Boris Berezovsky and cellist Urban Svensson -- all do well enough to carry the music through to its logical conclusions. It is a more musical than emotional performance, meaning it adheres more to Beethoven's classical sytle than a recording I heard recently featuring heart on sleeve pianist Martha Argerich and partners, who tried to induce romantic shock into the score.



Dausgaard takes a meatier role as accompanist here than in the piano concerto. He demonstrates allegiance to Norrington style in orchestral tutti, where the music builds very rapidly and explodes into sound where all the instruments and timpani seem to be making as loud a sound as possible in the final beat of fortissiomo moments. Again, I find this approach very satsifying and very Beethovian.



Overall, I enjoyed both performances here and the combination of concertos on this CD. My favorite version of the Triple Concerto remains the Suk Trio's Supraphon recording -- now out of print everywhere -- that accompanied that trio's world-famous 1962 recording of the "Archduke" Trio. I have no reigning champion for the Piano Concerto No. 3 although I have fond memories of both the Barenboim-Klemperer and Fleisher-Szell collaborations.



This recording does not compete directly with either of those, nor does it compete with period piano performers. The sound on this recording is full, deep and crystal clear, just about as good as recordings come these days that are neither three channel nore SACD. The price tag in Europe for this CD is quite expensive, however, something that may alter your buying decision."