Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Christopher Hogwood, Academy of Ancient Music :: Beethoven: The Piano Concertos; 3 Sonatas

Buy it Now

Virginia Opera Fan | Falls Church, VA USA | 04/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Universal deserves our thanks for making these seminal performances available once again, at mid-price and with the addition of three top drawer sonatas to boot. I own the fortepiano/period instrument cycles of Levin/Gardiner, Lubin/Hogwood, Newman/Simon and Tan/Norrington. The Lubin and Levin cycles are my favorites and I can't really decide which is better. Both are well played and conducted. Both also use different fortepianos to match the increasing demands Beethoven placed upon the instrument as the mechanical and range capabilities improved and his style matured. The orchestras are both colorful and handle their parts with aplomb - no sawing or scraping strings or squawking woodwinds here. The instruments reveal all sorts of wonderful details that tend to be swamped by modern strings.



I would have preferred the performers tackle the Choral Fantasy and the Triple Concerto as well when these were recorded, but the sonatas make a nice bonus.



With Levin/Gardiner increasing hard to find and commanding high prices on the used market, my advice is to snap this one up while its generally available. You won't be disappointed."

Dynamic

David Saemann | 07/21/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of my favorite sets of the Beethoven Concertos, on any types of instruments. It is beautifully recorded. Lubin uses three different fortepianos to reflect the differing instruments from the periods when the concertos were premiered. He even uses his own cadenza in No. 1, because the one Beethoven supplied was from years later, and Lubin deemed it inappropriate for the pianoforte of the concerto's time. All of the fortepianos have interesting sounds, more so than the one instrument Melvyn Tan used on his set. The fortepiano on the first two concertos has a very light, sort of twangy sonority, but it still can create real drama and is allowed by the composer to cut through his orchestration. In the entire set, much of the keyboard expression that a modern instrument would accomplish through power and a saturated tone instead is accomplished with a sensitivity to articulation and the play of light and shade. There is no shortage of drama anywhere in these performances. Hogwood's accompaniments are among the best I've ever heard, easily in the same league as Bernard Haitink's for Perahia and George Szell's for Fleisher. I also feel that the soloists, especially the first horn, show more individuality than do Norrington's London Classical Players. The sonatas are a welcome addition, if not quite at the adrenaline level of the conceros, with the exception of The Tempest. This set is a vital addition to anyone's collection of Beethoven Concertos."