Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Andre Previn, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra :: Beethoven: Piano Concerto Nos. 4 & 5 "Typisch

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Prescott Cunningham Moore | 05/23/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Although this is a warm, lyrical reading of the Emperor concerto, Ax's performance is not something so special as to warrant purchasing this CD. Previn and the Royal Philharmonic do accompany the soloist well enough, but the sound is dull and muddy, and for the most part, there is little tension or excitement. Furthermore, the recorded sound isn't spectacular either; it's a bit reverberant.



The opening flourishes are played well enough by Ax, who seems to want to play this music on a grand scale. However, at the entrance of the orchestra, Previn and his uninterested Royal Philharmonic deliver a pretty lifeless exposition. For the most part, the dialogue between soloist and orchestra is more akin to muffled whispering than declamatory statements, worsened in large part by the homogenous sound of the Philharmonic, which makes little effort to play with any energy. The second movement suffers from the warm, heavy strings of the Philharmonic coupled with a tempo just slow enough to make tension snag. Ax wants to bring energy to the finale - indeed, his pianism is fine throughout - but Previn and the Philharmonic are pretty flaccid sounding here as well. Still, Ax's poetry is lovely, his interpretations solid, and his musicianship unquestionable. I would blame Previn mostly for the lackluster quality of this release.



The fourth isn't much better. The heavy strings make a mess of the central movement and the finale refuses to take flight. The first movement if particularly colorless, again due to Previn's insensitivity. Why or why he supports his soloists so badly is still a wonder considering his success with Radu Lupu is the Greig and Schumann concertos and with Vladimir Ashkenazy in their Rachmoninov cycle, both with the London Symphony Orchestra.



Simply put, these are "nice" performances of these two concertos but they cannot stand up to the competition. When there are so many better recordings of these concertos out there, why waste your time here?"