Search - Haydn, Beethoven, Michelangeli :: Piano Concerto

The definitive Emperor Concerto!

07/26/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If there is one version of the Emperor you must listen to - it is Michelangeli's. What a pity that he was no longer alive when I started my first piano lesson! Having played and compared his version (the first movement's cascading chords are out-of-this-world) versus many others - Gilels, Ax, Kissin, Perahia, Ashkenazy.... his is by far the closest to what I imagine Beethoven would have liked his No. 5 to sound like. It is such a shame that we do not have more formal recordings of this elusive genius."

...arturo at his best

Will Saar | ramapo valley, NJ | 02/14/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"And I thought Furtwangler/Fischer could not be surpassed. Gilels/Ludwig are left wanting. This recording- amazingly clear for '61- is a true sleeper, I've never seen it mentioned before! The trills are immediately transporting, you are swept into a strongly symbiotic re-creation of the (much-abused) Beethoven masterpiece. The third movement is a brilliant, lucid conversation between the orchestra (della RAI Roma) and Benedetti, at times furious and screaming italians destroying the room then suddenly in respectful prayer. All these qualities are constantly at the service of the piece, illustrating Beethoven's twists and turns with enlightening clarity.
superlative recommendation."