Search - Beethoven, Fleisher, Szell :: Piano Concerti 2 & 4

The best ever Fourth, and the Second is virtually as good.

Alexander Leach | Shipley, West Yorkshire United Kingdom | 05/04/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Fourth Concerto can lay claim to being the most profound of the five, and Leon Fleisher provides an interpretation which has never been equalled. The playing of the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell is absolutely superb, and the 1959 recording, now on Sony, still sounds well. This remains one of the greatest piano concerto recordings ever made. The Second, recorded a year or two later, is also excellent.Alongside Fleisher, most pianists fall short in the Fourth, but mention should be made of the great Emil Gilels, whose recording with Leopold Ludwig conducting the Philharmonia has been reissued on Testament, with a fine Emperor Concerto as coupling."

Szell makes the period instrument guys sound like wimps!

Ed Brickell | 11/24/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

""I cannot pour chocolate sauce over asparagus," George Szell said once in response to a question as to why his Mozart could not be more "romantic." That's Szell for you: tough, sinewy, straightforward, perhaps slightly cool at times but with a properly romantic (certainly not to say sentimental) sensibility as well. His alert, sensitive readings have all of the quickness and clarity of today's period instrument recordings, but with modern-instrument power. Once you've heard Szell's Beethoven, nothing else will do: his set of Beethoven symphonies was the first set of classical music I ever owned (on vinyl), and I'm still listening to them nearly a quarter of a century later as my set of choice. (I also find I can listen to no one else conduct Brahms' symphonies but Szell; he clarifies the thick orchestrations as no one else can.) The same goes for Szell's Beethoven piano concerti with Fleischer -- nimble, witty, powerful, they are among the most impressive interpretations of the 20th century, and will have much to say to us in the 21st. So buy 'em -- they're cheap and will quickly become much trusted and much loved friends. The period instrument ensemble du jour may lead you momentarily astray, but you'll be back to these sooner or later, wondering why you ever left. And while you're at it, pick up Szell's Brahms, Beethoven symphonies, and his Wagner orchestral excerpts (all on Sony Essential Classics)."

It's solid, but there *is* one better record.

Ed Brickell | 12/20/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The second piano cto though published later is really LvB's first so it's not in the same league as the fourth. The fourth holds together better than any of the other cti, though it's not so profound as the third (which Fleisher plays best). The best recording of the fourth is Schnabel's RCA recording with the CSO and Frederick Stock. Though the sound is nowhere near so good as this disk, the playing is the better."