Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Roger Norrington, London Classical Players :: Beethoven: Piano Concerto 5 & Choral Fantasy (EMI)

Noble sound

Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 10/03/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Melvyn Tan and the London Classical Players directed by Roger Norrington completed their Beethoven cycle (the nine symphonies and the piano concertos) in January 1989 with this polished performance of the composer's grand 'Emperor' Concerto coupled with a fairly rare recording of the Fantasia in C major, Op. 80, a work which, according to the liner notes, has only survived because it is by Beethoven, but which Norrington and his team seem determined to bring to the forefront by means of an explosive performance that leaves, for my mind at any rate, nothing to be desired.



As with the other Beethoven recordings, the tempi are comparatively fast; Stefan Vladar and the Capella Istropolitana on Naxos need, for example, nearly two and a half minutes more for the Adagio un poco mosso (which on their recording admittedly sounds more like a Largo). Norrington's combination of period instruments in the orchestra sounds noble, and perhaps I had got used to this sound by now, but I found the fortepiano fitted rather well to the whole despite being so soft and gentle that it was occasionally in danger of being 'swallowed' by the orchestra. And Melvyn Tan's playing seems to rise to the occasion in both pieces, capturing both the martial spirit of the Piano Concerto as well as the 'artist's genius' of the Fantasia. The close of the Fantasia is also better managed than the close of the Ninth Symphony, the brief appearance of soloists and choir being here completely satisfactory.



All in all, this is probably one of the better Norrington Beethoven Cds, its only weakness being the above-mentioned balance problems between fortepiano and orchestra."