BaL 04.01.25 - Beethoven: Piano concerto 1

[Pulcinella]

1500
Building a Library
Joanna MacGregor chooses her favourite version of Beethoven's 1st Piano Concerto.

When he first got to Vienna, Beethoven concentrated on studying composition with Haydn. But by 1795 he was confident enough to launch a career as a pianist-composer. He started his Piano Concerto No 1 in C major and probably performed it that year at the Burgtheater in Vienna. But in 1800 he revised the concerto and that is the version we know today. The concerto is full of the energy and life-force that roars through all Beethoven's greatest works and is a great favourite with pianists and audience alike.

A mere 416 entries in Presto's listing:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/works/25978--beethoven-piano-concerto-no-1-in-c-major-op-15/browse

The BBC MM offering (Volume 21, Number 10) is with Paul Lewis and the BBCSO, under Belohlavek, live at the BBC Proms on 21 July 2010.
The coupling is Holst's Planets, with Boult conducting the BBCSO, again at the BBC Proms (were they called that then?) on 7 September 1973.

[smittims]

...'ang on a minute! 'Her favourite' may not be the most recommendable for someone 'building a library'. My 'favourite ' would be Gieseking or Schnabel, but I couldn't recommend them on account of the age of the recording.

[Sir Velo]

Alf a mo! A woman reviewer? They'll be giving them the vote next!

[Petrushka]

My 'go to' recordings for all of the Beethoven Piano Concertos are either Perahia/Concertgebouw/ Haitink or Barenboim/New Philharmonia/Klemperer.

Specifically for this concerto, I'd side with Perahia.

[vinteuil]

.
... a ridiculous exercise.

At the very least they shd have three discrete categories - HIPP, 'recent', 'historical'.

And for that they shd insist on three-times the normal duration of BaL

And it wd still be a ridiculous exercise...

.

[Barbirollians]

They must read our Summer BAL - time and time again we put one up and suddenly it appears here .

I like a lot Perahia/Haitink my first love in this concerto , Barenboim/Klemperer, Cleveland Ashkenazy, Brendel/Rattle, Gulda./Stein, Rubinstein/Barenboim, Lenny at the piano. Fleischer/Szell, Gilels /Vandernoot, , Kempff/Leitner or van Kampen ,Kovacevich/Davis Lill/Gibson , Howard Shelley , Solomon etc

If you had to pin me to one , however, it would be Martha Argerich who I think is outstanding in this concerto ( possibly influenced by the fabulous live performance I heard her give with the Manchester Camerata at the Manchester Piano Festival some years back.

Which of her recordings I would choose is another matter - probably the recent Ozawa but both the Sinopoli and Jochum are splendid too.

Joanna McGregor should be good , if you recall,to Mr McGregor's annoyance she chose the legendary 1950s Gilels/Ludwig in No 4 .

[richardfinegold]

My 'go to' recordings for all of the Beethoven Piano Concertos are either Perahia/Concertgebouw/ Haitink or Barenboim/New Philharmonia/Klemperer.

Specifically for this concerto, I'd side with Perahia.

Excellent choices.
Per Vints, it’s been recorded so much that picking one is a dubious exercise. I’ve always had a soft spot for Brendel Vox record. It sounds rough and ready and Brendel plays with great enthusiasm. The jagged edges of the recording seem to fit the upstart composer

[pastoralguy]

For me, my very first one! John Lill with the Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Sir Alex Gibson on CfP.

[smittims]

I'm beginning to wonder whether, in an age of streaming, with possibly the end of CDs in sight, BaL is approaching obsolescence. Do millennials still have shelves of stuff?

[pastoralguy]

I'm beginning to wonder whether, in an age of streaming, with possibly the end of CDs in sight, BaL is approaching obsolescence. Do millennials still have shelves of stuff?

Iirc, BaL started in the 1950’s when there comparatively few recordings of even the most popular works and LPs were very expensive. So I suppose it was seen as a good way of helping the new listeners to music build a good solid collection without making expensive mistakes. (Pretty much the reason I sill read Gramophone).

However, with so many recordings available for a comparatively small subscription fee, it does seem to be becoming redundant. It’ll be a shame when it’ll no doubt be eventually axed as a sign of ‘progress’.

[Pulcinella]

They must read our Summer BAL - time and time again we put one up and suddenly it appears here .

...

In my rush to start the thread this morning I forgot to look there! Thanks for the reminder.

Here's the link:

https://www.for3.org/forums/forum/classical-forum/record-review/our-summer-bal/1314589-our-summer-bal-86-beethoven-piano-concerto-no1

[Darloboy]

Surprisingly, BaL hasn't covered this concerto since 1986 (Joan Chissell was the reviewer - I don't know what she picked but it's fairly safe to assume it wasn't HIPP). But before that it was covered in 1962, 1964, 1968 and 1972 so maybe they felt they'd overdone it...

[Sir Velo]

Judging by her previous form, JM is likely to choose a HIPP; HUPP and recent recording if her 2022 verdict on the G major concerto is anything to go by:

Emil Gilels (piano) Philharmonia Orchestra Leopold Ludwig (conductor) Warner Classics 4768282

Krystian Zimerman (piano) London Symphony Orchestra Sir Simon Rattle (conductor) DG 4839971

Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano) Freiburger Barockorchester Pablo Heras-Casado (conductor) Harmonia Mundi HMM902413

[Sir Velo]

Personally I'm finding unlimited enchantment in this recording.:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9312616--beethoven-piano-concertos-nos-1-3

[CallMePaul]

Personally I'm finding unlimited enchantment in this recording.:
https://www.prestomusic.com/classica...certos-nos-1-3

This may well interest me as I would like a fortepiano performance to add to Perahia/ Haitink and Buchbinder (soloist/ director with Vienna Phil), but I suspect that Joanna MacGregor will choose a fairly recent modern piano version. In any event I do not consider a currently active pianist the ideal reviewer for a piano concerto.