Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Barry Wordsworth, Capella Istropolitana :: Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 5

Another great "economy" recording that's on par with any.

David K. Banker | California | 12/23/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Some of my favorite recordings are NAXOS recordings, and this is one of them. If CDs wore out like old LPs did, I would have to buy another one of these. The performance is great, particularly the two Rondos, and I think the technical quality is as good an any found on even the most expensive disks. This would be a bargin at three times the price!"

Rather primitive recorded sound

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

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Barry Wordsworth's 1988 recordings for Naxos have earned him a good deal of praise, and if I award his Beethoven Piano Concertos only three stars, then that should not be seen as a lack of appreciation for some very good interpretation and playing. Stefan Vladar, at the time of recording only 22 years old, offers a splendid rendition of Beethoven's music, and it is surely no accident that he has since gone on to a recording career with more major record labels. Wordsworth's tempi are comparatively slow (the school of 'historical performance practice' would want much faster tempi, following Czerny's metronome marks). The Capella Istropolitana, here obviously at full strength, develops great gusto, but I thought I detected some weaknesses in the playing at some points, a certain sharpness in the strings and, as with Wordsworth's other recordings with this ensemble, a 'breathy' flute. Nevertheless, the CD would have been worth four stars but for the rather primitive recorded sound. This is due in part to the acoustics in the empty Concert Hall of the Slovak Philharmonic in Bratislava, where the echo-ey feeling tends to accentuate occasional weaknesses, but also to the way the piano has been recorded: I assume with (two?) extra microphones. The end result is that Vladar's right hand comes over very clearly on the left side of the proceedings, while his left hand occasionally comes to prominence on the right, thus making his Bösendorfer grand piano as wide as the whole orchestra and raising my eyebrows even when listening to the CD via headphones."