BaL 9.02.19 - Beethoven: Piano Concerto no 5 in E flat "Emperor"

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

09.30
Building a Library: Sir Nicholas Kenyon listens to and compares some of the available recordings of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 5 in E flat major, Op.73 ‘Emperor’.

Beethoven’s 5th Piano Concerto in E flat major, Op.73, nicknamed the ‘Emperor’ is the grandest and even the most symphonic of Beethoven’s concertos. It is also the best known of Beethoven’s five piano concertos and the most often performed. From the very first bars, the orchestra and soloist engage in what sounds like a heroic battle.

The Emperor Concerto, as it has come to be known, was begun in 1808 and dedicated to Beethoven’s friend and student, the Archduke Rudolf who gave its Leipzig premiere in 1811. The piano had become a more expressive instrument through new technological developments, and the Emperor Concerto therefore quickly became very popular. Carl Czerny gave its Vienna premiere in 1802 and Franz Liszt also loved to play the concerto. #


Available versions:-

Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Valéry Afanassiev, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzberg, Hubert Soudant
Leif Ove Andsnes, Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Nicholas Angelich, Insula Orchestra, Laurence Equilbey
Géza Anda, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Hans Rosbaud
Istvan Antal, Hungarian State Orchestra, Gyula Nemeth*
Claudio Arrau, Staatskapelle Dresden, Sir Colin Davis
Claudio Arrau, Philharmonia Orchestra, Alceo Galliera
Claudio Arrau, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink*
Claudio Arrau, Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer
Claudio Arrau, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Monteux
Claudio Arrau, The Symphony Orchestra of the University of Chile (DVD)
Vladimir Ashkenazy, Cleveland Orchestra*
Vladimir Ashkenazy, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Georg Solti (DVD/Blu-ray)
Vladimir Ashkenazy, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Georg Solti
Vladimir Ashkenazy, Wiener Philharmoniker, Zubin Mehta
Emanuel Ax, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Andre Previn
Gina Bachauer, London Symphony Orchestra, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski
Wilhelm Backhaus, Sudfunk-Sinfonieorchester, Joseph Keilberth*
Wilhelm Backhaus, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Franz Konwitschny*
Wilhelm Backhaus, Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Hans Knappertsbusch
Wilhelm Backhaus, Wiener Philharmoniker, Clemens Krauss
Wilhelm Backhaus, London Symphony Orchestra, Landon Ronald
Wilhelm Backhaus, Wiener Philharmoniker, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt*
Paul Badura-Skoda, North German Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch
Paul Badura-Skoda, Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Hermann Scherchen*
Daniel Barenboim, Berliner Philharmoniker*
Daniel Barenboim, Staatskapelle Berlin
Daniel Barenboim, Staatskapelle Berlin (DVD/Blu-ray)
Daniel Barenboim, Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado (DVD/Blu-ray)
Daniel Barenboim, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer
Alessio Bax, Southbank Sinfonia, Simon Over
Boris Berezovsky, Swedish Chamber Orchestra Örebro
Idil Biret, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit
Felicja Blumenthal, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Robert Wagner
Jorge Bolet, Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Moshe Atzmon
Ronald Brautigam, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Parrott (SACD)
Alfred Brendel, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Alfred Brendel, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, James Levine
Alfred Brendel, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Alfred Brendel, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Simon Rattle
Alfred BfrendelVienna Symphony Orchestra, Heinz Wallberg
Yefim Bronfman, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Andris Nelsons (DVD/Blu-ray))
Yefim Bronfman, Tonhalle Orchestra, David Zinman*
Rudolf Buchbinder, Wiener Philharmoniker (DVD/Blu-ray)
Robert Casadesus, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Guido Cantelli
Robert Casadesus, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Dimitri Mitropoulos
Robert Casadesus, Wiener Philharmoniker, Dimitri Mitropoulos
Robert Casadesus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Malcolm Sargent
Van Cliburn, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner*
Van Cliburn, Moscow Philharmonic, Kyrill Kondrashin (DVD)
Clifford Curzon, Wiener Philharmoniker, Hans Knappertsbusch
Clifford Curzon, Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Rafael Kubelik
Clifford Curzon, London Philharmonic Orchestra, George Szell*
Anton Dikov, Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, Emil Tabakov*
Barry Douglas, Camerata Ireland*
Youri Egorov, Philharmonia Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch
Christoph Eschenbach, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa (CD/SACD)
Till Fellner, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Kent Nagano
Rudolf Firku�ný, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg*
Edwin Fischer, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Karl Böhm
Edwin Fischer, Philharmonia Orchestra, Wilhelm Furtwängler (CD/SACD)
Leon Fleisher, Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell
Andor Foldes, Berliner Philharmoniker, Ferdinand Leitner
Nelson Freire, Gewandhausorchester, Riccardo Chailly
Mario Galeani, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Grzegorz Nowak
Bruno Leonardo Gelber, Philharmonia Orchestra, Ferdinand Leitner*
Walter Gieseking, Philharmonia Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Walter Gieseking, Berlin Radio Orchestra, Arthur Rother*
Walter Gieseking, Wiener Philharmoniker, Bruno Walter
Walter Gieseking, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Kurt Wöss
Emil Gilels, Tschechische Philharmonie, Karl Böhm
Emil Gilels, Philharmonia Orchestra, Leopold Ludwig
Emil Gilels, Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell
Emil Gilels, WDR Symphony Orchestra, Günter Wand
Emil Gilels, Tschechische Philharmonie, Kurt Sanderling
Bernd Glemser, Duisburger Philharmoniker, Bruno Weil
Richard Goode, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Ivan Fischer*
Glenn Gould, American Symphony Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski
Glenn Gould, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Karel Ancerl
Glenn Gould, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Josef Krips*
Lelia Gousseau, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch
Helene Grimaud, Staatskapelle Dresden, Vladimir Jurowski*
Cor de Groot, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Willem Mengelberg
Cor de Groot, Wiener Symphoniker, Willem van Otterloo
Friedrich Gulda, Wiener Philharmoniker, Horst Stein*
François-Frédéric Guy, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Philippe Jordan
Oksoo Han, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Dmitry Yablonsky
Fujiko Hemming, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Yuri Simonov*
Dame Myra Hess, Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Efrem Kurtz*
Michael Houstoun, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Janos Furst*
Vladimir Horowitz, RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner
Jos van Immerseel, Tafelmusik, Jeanne Lamon
Jos van Immerseel, Tafelmusik, Bruno Weil
Diedre Irons, Christchurch Symphony, Marc Decio Taddei
Eugene Istomin, Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy
Ingrid Jacoby, Sinfonia Varsovia, Jacek Kaspszyk
Julian von Károlyi, Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Robert Heger
Julius Katchen, London Symphony Orchestra, Piero Gamba
Mindru Katz, Hallé Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli
Wilhelm Kempff, Berliner Philharmoniker, Ferdinand Leitner
Wilhelm Kempff, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Paul van Kempen
Wilhelm Kempff, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Peter Raabe
Sunwook Kim, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Myung-Whun Chung*
Evgeny Kissin, London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
Evgeny Kissin, Philharmonia Orchestra, James Levine*
Mari Kodama, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Kent Nagano
Stephen Kovacevich, Australian Chamber Orchestra
Stephen Kovacevich, London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
Norman Krieger, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Joann Falletta*
Anton Kuerti, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Davis
Alicia de Larrocha, Radio-Symphony-Orchestra Berlin, Riccardo Chailly
Alicia de Larrocha, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta*
Hyo Joo Lee, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Douglas Boyd*
Robert Levin, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, The Monteverdi Choir, John Eliot Gardiner
Paul Lewis, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Jiri Belohlávek
John Lill, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Walter Weller
Steven Lubin, The Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood*
Radu Lupu, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Nikita Magaloff, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, George Szell
Michal Masek, Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, Leos Svarovsky

(continued in post 2)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

(continued from opening post)

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Wiener Symphoniker, Carlo Maria Giulini
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Orchestre National de l’ORTF, Jean Martinon
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino della RAI, Nino Sanzogno*
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Prague Symphony Orchestra (FOK), Vàclav Smetacek (SACD)
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Jan Krenz (DVD)
Hannes Minnaar, Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Jan Willem de Vriend (SACD)
Benno Moiseiwitsch, London Philharmonic Orchestra, George Szell
Benno Moiseiwitsch, Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York, Josef Krips
Victor Emanuel von Monteton, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Neville Marriner*
Olli Mustonen, Tapiola Sinfonietta (SACD)
Elly Ney, Wiener Philharmoniker, Karl Böhm*
Guiomar Novaes, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Jonel Perlea
John O’Conor, London Symphony Orchestra, Andreas Delfs
Gerhard Oppitz, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Marek Janowski*
Jorge Federico Osorio, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Enrique Batiz
Jan Panenka, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Václav Smetácek
Murray Perahia, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Murray Perahia, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner (DVD/Blu-ray)
Mikhail Petukhov
Joshua Pierce, Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Bystrik Rezucha*
Artur Pizarro, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras
Mikhail Pletnev, Russian National Orchestra, Christian Gansch*
Maurizio Pollini, Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado
Maurizio Pollini, Wiener Philharmoniker, Karl Böhm
Maurizio Pollini, Wiener Philharmoniker, Karl Böhm (DVD)
Maurizio Pollini, Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma, orchestra Sinfonica di Torino
Robert Riefling, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Gabriel Chmura
Hans Richter-Haaser, Philharmonia Orchestra, Istvan Kertesz
Eliane Rodrigues, St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra, Walter Proost*
Michael Roll, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Howard Shelley
Arthur Rubinstein, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim
Arthur Rubinstein, Symphony of the Air, Josef Krips*
Arthur Rubinstein, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf
Arthur Rubinstein, Philharmonia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy
Alexander Sandler, St. Petersburg Classic Music Studio Orchestra, Alexander Titov*
András Schiff, Staatskapelle Dresden, Bernard Haitink*
Artur Schnabel, London Symphony Orchestra, Malcolm Sargent
Artur Schnabel, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Frederick Stock
Oliver Schnyder, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, James Gaffigan
Arthur Schoonderwoerd, Cristofori Ensemble, Nachtmusique
Rudolf Serkin, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein
Rudolf Serkin, New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Guido Cantelli
Rudolf Serkin, Orchestra “Alessandro Scarlatti” di Napoli della RAI, Franco Caracciolo*
Rudolf Serkin, New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, George Enescu
Rudolf Serkin, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Rafael Kubelik
Rudolf Serkin, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Pierre Monteux
Rudolf Serkin, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy*
Rudolf Serkin, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa
Howard Shelley, Opera North Orchestra
Russell Sherman, Monadnock Music Festival Orchestra, James Bolle
Jeffrey Siegel, Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, Rico Saccani*
Solomon, Philharmonia Orchestra, Herbert Menges
Ignat Solzhenitsyn, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia*
Jasminka Stancul, Haydn Orchestra Of Bolzano And Trento, Gustav Kuhn
Yevgeny Sudbin, Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä (SACD)
Shoko Sugitani, Berliner Symphoniker, Gerard Oskamp
Melvyn Tan, London Classical Players, Roger Norrington
Peter Toperczer, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Libor Pesek*
Peter Toperczer, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Ladislav Slovák*
Mitsuko Uchida, Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle
Mitsuko Uchida, Symphonie Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Kurt Sanderling
Mihaela Ursuleasa, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Jesús López Cobos*
Dénes Várjon, Concerto Budapest, András Keller
Dinorah Varsi,
Stefan Vladar, Wiener KammerOrchester
Stefan Vladar, Capella Istropolitana, Barry Wordsworth
Lars Vogt, Royal Northern Sinfonia
Galina Vracheva, Kiev Chamber Orchestra, Roman Kofman
George Walker, Amherst Symphony Orchestra, Smith College, Edwin London
Alexis Weissenberg, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Gerard Willems, Sinfonia Australis, Antony Walker*
Friedrich Wührer
Maria Yudina
Yundi, Berliner Philharmoniker, Daniel Harding
Christian Zacharias, Staatskapelle Dresden, Hans Vonk*
Christian Zacharias, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (DVD)
Dieter Zechlin, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Kurt Sanderling
Krystian Zimerman, Wiener Philharmoniker, Leonard Bernstein
Krystian Zimerman, Wiener Philharmoniker, Leonard Bernstein (DVD)


* = download only

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Just a reminder. Before posting omissions (of which I's sure there are quite a few), please check the first TWO posts. Being a long list, it exceeded the maximum number of characters for a single post.

[Bryn]

The WWII Gieseking/BRO/Rother stereo recording seems still to be available on CD:

[cloughie]

Is that the longest BaL list you’ve supplied to date? I admire your application to the task. Well done!

[visualnickmos]

Is that the longest BaL list you’ve supplied to date? I admire your application to the task. Well done!

Inded - thanks, Alpie Imagine having to listen to them all! It'll be interesting as to who will actually get an airing!

[Petrushka]

It's an impossible, even foolhardy, task to pick just one from this lot. NK needs to choose a few, maybe half a dozen, that can realistically be serious contenders in their various ways and proceed to choose one in each category eg HIPP, historical, modern digital, LP era or whatever, otherwise it will be meaningless.

When it was done as a BaL in about 1979 I can recall that Curzon/VPO/Knappertsbusch 'won'. Wonder how it would fare today?

I've got many, many recordings on my shelves but my 'go to' for a long time was Perahia/Concertgebouw/Haitink.

[Bryn]

Back around 1980, I had more LPs of the 'Emperor' than any other work by any composer. I have still to find a recording in which the 'slow' movement is played at the tempo which the cut time on the original orchestra parts (supposedly wrongly missing its strike-through in the copy prepared in a hand other than Beethoven's of the full score). There was an interesting television programme on this topic in the early to mid-1980s. I recorded the soundtrack to cassette at the time, but have since lost it. The second and third movements were played on original instruments to illustrate the argument in favour of a tempo around twice that most often encountered in modern times. I found the quicker tempo very convincing. The nearest on disc is that by Tan, the LCP and Norrington. They take their tempi from Czerny's metronome markings. The search continues.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

When it was done as a BaL in about 1979 I can recall that Curzon/VPO/Knappertsbusch 'won'. Wonder how it would fare today?

And not forgetting the (in)famous 1974(-ish) choice by Joseph Cooper; Hanae Nakajima with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Rato Tschupp.

[Bryn]

And not forgetting the (in)famous 1974(-ish) choice by Joseph Cooper; Hanae Nakajima with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Rato Tschupp.

Which I had on LP and have on CD. Hanae Nakajima's Ravel recordings were very good, too. I had a boxed set of her playing the complete Ravel works for piano, pus the two concertos. Her Mirrors, in particular, was outstanding. It can still be found as a download or burned to CD-R on the other side of the Pond. Whatever became of her? The last I heard she had returned to Japan around 2004 and was teaching in a University there.

[cloughie]

And not forgetting the (in)famous 1974(-ish) choice by Joseph Cooper; Hanae Nakajima with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Rato Tschupp.

I remember adding that to my first choice Katchen LSO Gamba at the time.

[Barbirollians]

Which I had on LP and have on CD. Hanae Nakajima's Ravel recordings were very good, too. Whatever became of her?

I hope it is not one of those recordings from the last ten years jobs.

I am surprised to find I have 24 of that list ! Plus Serkin/Walter .

Barenboim/Klemperer remains my favourite with Fischer/Furtwangler and Solomon/Menges in hot pursuit - closely followed by Kovacevich/Davis,Gulda/Stein ,Fleisher/Szell, the Kempff pair on DG and Uchida/Sanderling.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Which I had on LP and have on CD.

I had the Windmill LP, bought from the local Tesco's for 50p in c1974; my only recording for about seven or eight years - I must have worn through the vinyl during that time. It is available via YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H9RK8BW2L0

... a very spirited performance let down by some dodgy woodwind intonation in the slow movement, and the odd brass "fluff" here & there (which would have been edited out in a more expensive venture). It served me very well indeed at the time - and I've enjoyed hearing it again.

[pastoralguy]

For many years, my favourite recording was John Lill with the SNO under Sir Alexander Gibson on CfP which I bought at an SNO concert from the Friends Stall circa 1978. However, my father had a MfP recording of Rudolf Furkusny with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under Steinberg. The second movement was played at his funeral.

One of my all time favourite works.

[pastoralguy]

Is that the longest BaL list you’ve supplied to date? I admire your application to the task. Well done!

Bravo, sir!