Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, New York Philharmonic, Rudolf Serkin :: Bernstein Century - Beethoven: Piano Concertos no 3 and 5 / New York PO

Inimitable Serkin/Bernstein

03/28/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was driving and listening to this recording on WQXR in New York. The interpretation of Emperor was so unique, so distinct from than any other. I had to stop at the side of the road with a pen at the ready to hear who in the world had the courage to conceive this sublime performance. When it was over you experience one of those delicious moments when the conductor and pianist are revealed and you go "but of course, who else". Very special."

Moving

10/30/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My review applies more to the "Emporer" no. 5. I'm not a big fan of no. 3 anyway, so I can't speak to its quality on this disc. However, Bernstein and Serkin's interpretation of the "Emporer" is as moving as any I've heard. If you want your Beethoven to inspire and rouse(as I do), then this is the one to get. If you are looking for another sterile, lifeless reading of this concerto then go for the other reviewer's recommendations below. Bernstein and Serkin are very much in sync with each other throughout and the results are positively exciting despite the dissenter below."

Excellent remastering of two great performances--incomparabl

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 11/12/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These two Beethoven concerto recordings from 1962 (Emperor) and 1964 (Third Cncerto) are the only time, besides an equally commadning "Choral Fantasy" from the same era, that Bernstein and Serkin ever recorded together. The pianist was a dominant figure among the Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany who put New York musical culture on the map, and Bernstein of course was the culmination of that phenomenon--he became the prodigal son returning to Vienna in triumph. There is a special, all but unmatched electricity in the meeting of these two greats.



I suppose Amazon's unreliable reviewer has a point in contrasting Serkin and Benrstein, but the actual performance speaks otherwise: both performers are galvanic. In five decades of listening I've grown used to listless accompaniments for the Beethoven piano concertos--even maestros on the order of Hiatink, Abbado, and Solti simply don't care. Here Bernstein acts as if these works are full-scale Beethoven symphonies, which is especially fortunate for the Third Concerto, so often underplayed as quasi-Haydn. Not this one; it's a robust cousin to the Emperor.



This Emperor was for 25 years the staple recording for Columbia, CBS, and Sony, put forward early in the digital era in a tinny mastering, now emerging in much better sound in the Bernstein Century series. Like the Third, it's a lion of a peformance, perhaps not as dominant in the field as the Third since there are so many great versions. But this one has the flavor of Bernstien's early exuberance and Serkin's profound understanding of Beethoven. Five stars without a doubt."