With this 2012 release, Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes
embarks on The Beethoven Journey, as
he has titled the album, the first of several that will cover all five of
Beethoven’s piano concertos and the Choral
Fantasy. Whether he will then go on to do the Triple Concerto and the various sonatas, we’ll have to wait to see.
As Andsnes notes in the disc’s accompanying booklet, this is the first time
he’s recorded Beethoven at all, and his inspiration to do so was hearing
snippets of the concertos playing in an elevator he used regularly. Mr. Andsnes
is a fine, thoughtful, clearheaded pianist, and if this initial foray of his
into Beethoven as pianist and director of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra is any
indication, we can only hope he’ll consider going as far as he can in the
repertoire.
As Andsnes also points out in the booklet, there is
nothing slight or lightweight about Beethoven’s first couple of piano
concertos. In fact, it is only by comparison to the revolutionary ideas in the
final few concertos that the early concertos seem of less consequence.
Nevertheless, there is much to commend in all five of them.
Beethoven premiered the Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15, in 1798. It is one of my
favorite works by the composer, and if it sounds more mature than his Concerto No. 2, it’s because he actually
wrote No. 1 some ten years after No. 2. Anyway, here in the Concerto No. 1 we get a big, rhythmic
opening movement, a playfully tuneful closing movement, and in between them one
of the most tranquil, meditative middle movements a listener could imagine.
I enjoyed the fresh bounce Andsnes maintains in his
playing. He certainly takes the first movement briskly, which perhaps
diminishes slightly the joy of the music, yet it’s probably more in line with
Beethoven’s own Allegro con brio
tempo marking than most pianists observe. So, it may be all in what a person
has become used to hearing. The playing of both the soloist and the orchestra
are friendly and inviting despite the quick pace. Andsnes is able to bring out
not only the grandeur in the first movement but the lyricism and turmoil as
well.
The Largo is
among Beethoven’s most sublime creations, and Andsnes gives it a heartfelt
interpretation. Still, the pianist shows no signs of sentimentality, which some
listeners will appreciate. Personally, I would rather have heard a little more
old-fashioned emotiveness from him, but that’s probably just my age speaking.
It’s lovely, really.
The final Rondo,
Allegro is rhythmically joyous fun, and Andsnes appears to be having a good
time with it. Although it’s maybe not as resilient or melodious as, say, Steven
Kovacevich's performance for Philips (still the touchstone in these works),
it’s close, and Andsnes’s finger work is astonishing.
The Piano Concerto
No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37, premiered in 1803, with Beethoven as usual the
soloist. No. 3 is where a lot critics
feel Beethoven found his own voice, and we begin to feel less the influence of
Mozart and Haydn. Frankly, I find nothing wrong with those influences, but,
yes, Beethoven is more creative here than ever before. The work is darker and
more complex than Nos. 1 or 2, which in themselves don’t make No. 3 better, just different. The
stricter, somewhat harsher moods Beethoven conjures up in No. 3 seem to suit Andsnes better, though, and he turns in a superb
reading, both gravely somber and seductively sweet. While Andsnes fills the
piece with a remarkable energy, there is always something just a trifle
melancholy and lonely about all three movements. Well done, sir.
Sony recorded the music at Dvorak Hall, Rudolfinum,
Prague, Czechoslovakia, in early 2012. The sound is big (from so small an
ensemble), yet it hasn’t quite the transparency or naturalness I’ve heard in a
few other recordings. Nor is there much in the way of orchestral depth
involved, so the sonic impression is one of relative flatness. However, there
is a pleasant ambient glow around the instruments, a mild resonance that goes a
long way toward compensating for any possible shortcomings. Moreover, there is
a wide dynamic range and a strong impact that aid in overall realism.
A minor quibble: I enjoy nice-looking album covers. I
enjoy at least glancing at them once in a while as I’m listening to a piece of
music. The Andsnes Beethoven cover is as stark and nondescript as one can
imagine; it looks as though someone simply typed the album’s title on a white
sheet of paper. Since Sony plans to do more releases in this series, I hope
they reconsider the artwork.
JJP
