Argerich in the early Beethoven concertos 1 and 2

[Barbirollians]

Just been listening again to her recordings in Lugano on DG . I think she really is now without peer in these works - such humour in her playing and wonderful interplay with the woodwind in particular . What was striking is how much lighter and more transparent these works sound in these performances than in her much more well upholstered yet still very lovely recordings with Sinopoli in the late 1980s .

I wonder if whether it is in part because she does not play the other concertos ( there is a recording of No 3 with Abbado but otherwise it is not in her repertoire ) that the first two concertos never sound like lesser or early works with her .

Any other Argerich fans in these works or favoured alternatives ?

[jayne lee wilson]

Current favourite - Brautigam/Norrkoping SO/Parrott (BIS, 24/44.1 WAVE).

Classic choice - Vogt/CBSO/Rattle (EMI/Warners CD)**
**Get the original CD if you can - sounds better than the Red Line reissue.

[antongould]

Barenboim and Klemperer and the NPO or some other 3 letter ..........

[akiralx]

For the two first concertos: Schiff/Haitink on Teldec - sparkling, witty and idiomatically Beethovenian.

Though the BIS Brautigam/Parrott Second quoted above is also v good - the only one from that cycle I have heard.

Worst recording of the C major: Eschenbach/Karajan on DG - the worst Karajan recording I have heard by some margin...

[BBMmk2]

Rather difficult to pinpoint a particular artist in this rep, imo.

[richardfinegold]

Just been listening again to her recordings in Lugano on DG . I think she really is now without peer in these works - such humour in her playing and wonderful interplay with the woodwind in particular . What was striking is how much lighter and more transparent these works sound in these performances than in her much more well upholstered yet still very lovely recordings with Sinopoli in the late 1980s .

I wonder if whether it is in part because she does not play the other concertos ( there is a recording of No 3 with Abbado but otherwise it is not in her repertoire ) that the first two concertos never sound like lesser or early works with her .

Any other Argerich fans in these works or favoured alternatives ?

The first 2 Beethoven PCs have not been recorded as much as the last 3, but without checking a catalog, I am guessing that there must be over 100 currently available, and goodness knows how many deleted, recordings of both.
It would not diminish Argerich to argue the point that she is "without peer" in these works that have been traversed by so many great Artists. I have her recordings of 1 and 2 somewhere in my collection but I believe that they are studio accounts and probably not the same Lugano recordings that Barbs has. I haven't spun that disc for a while but remember enjoying it very much. My current favorites are Fleisher/Szell and Jan Panenka on Supraphon but I also enjoy Serkin, Arrau, and the old Brendel/Vox set, which has scrappy Orchestral playing but a young and energetic soloist who seems to be delighting in disovering these works.

[aeolium]

I love the old Solomon recordings of these two concertos, with the Philharmonia conducted by Menges in no 1 and Cluytens in no 2. They've also been reissued in a remastering by Andrew Rose at Pristine Classical.

For a more modern recording Pollini with Abbado and the BPO taken from live concerts is very good.

[Barbirollians]

I have to admit to putting the Lars Vogt recording in the worthy but not thrilling pile .

Perahia/ Haitink are also very fine as historically are Gilels and Kempff and more recently I have a soft spot for Uchida and Sanderling but nobody makes these works anywhere near as much fun as Argerich !

[pastoralguy]

Get the original CD if you can - sounds better than the Red Line reissue.

I try to get recordings in their original releases. I think there is a difference in cheaper re-releases. ?something a bit opaque about the sound?

[silvestrione]

I have to admit to putting the Lars Vogt recording in the worthy but not thrilling pile .

Perahia/ Haitink are also very fine as historically are Gilels and Kempff and more recently I have a soft spot for Uchida and Sanderling but nobody makes these works anywhere near as much fun as Argerich !

I wish I'd heard her in Manchester in 2013!

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/jul/14/martha-argerich-review

'the sublime interplay in the slow movement included a musical conversation that the Manchester Camerata's principal clarinet, Fiona Cross, is likely to remember for the rest of her life.'...

[jayne lee wilson]

Vogt/Rattle/CBSO, see RO's beautifully written, insightful & detailed review in Gram. for 3/97.
"As fine a recorded account as we have had for many a long year..."

Always surprised more here haven't discovered the Brautigam for themselves, allying sheer beauty of sound to wondrously alert and chamber-musically responsive exchanges. SUCH poetry in the slow movements too! A marvel, most especially for No.2... (RO rated this almost as good as Serkin/Ormandy (1957) "which is saying something"...
Brautigam plays a modern Steinway, BTW, beautifully offset by the subtly HIPS-orientation of Parrott's orchestral response...

[Pianoman]

I really think Brautigam missed a trick here by using a modern grand - it just makes his cycle 'interesting' to me (along with many others), rather than the very special version it might have been had he used one of his McNultys, which after his sonata cycle I was waiting with baited breath for..

[Bryn]

Vogt/Rattle/CBSO, see RO's beautifully written, insightful & detailed review in Gram. for 3/97.
"As fine a recorded account as we have had for many a long year..."

Always surprised more here haven't discovered the Brautigam for themselves, allying sheer beauty of sound to wondrously alert and chamber-musically responsive exchanges. SUCH poetry in the slow movements too! A marvel, most especially for No.2... (RO rated this almost as good as Serkin/Ormandy (1957) "which is saying something"...
Brautigam plays a modern Steinway, BTW, beautifully offset by the subtly HIPS-orientation of Parrott's orchestral response...

If it has to be a modern piano then Brautigam is for me too. I especially like his use of Barry Cooper's edition of Beethoven's revisions for the 4th. However, when it comes to period type instruments, for me it's:

[jayne lee wilson]

I really think Brautigam missed a trick here by using a modern grand - it just makes his cycle 'interesting' to me (along with many others), rather than the very special version it might have been had he used one of his McNultys, which after his sonata cycle I was waiting with baited breath for..

He uses those in his excellent Mozart Concerto series of course... seek out the LvB booklet notes on BIS for a discussion with Brautigam about piano choices... a striking feature of the Beethoven series is the placing of the piano (sans lid) in the heart of the orchestra. It really does have a uniquely beautiful effect, and that performance of the 4th is truly sublime...

[Barbirollians]

I bought the Vogt on the basis of RO's review and I still find it worthy - perfectly sound but not thrilling.

Silvestrione - I was lucky enough to be at that concert and the Guardian review was spot on .