Kristian Bezuidenhout, fortepiano; Pablo Heras-Casado, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Harmonia Mundi HMM902412.
By John J. Puccio
With Concertos 1 and 3, pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout, conductor Pablo Heras-Casado, and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra complete their cycle of all five Beethoven Piano Concertos for Harmonia Mundi. For now, their recordings are the best period-instrument accounts of the complete cycle put to disc.
The first selection on the album is the more-popular and more-mature of the pieces, the Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37, which Beethoven wrote around 1800 and published in 1804. It still retains some evidence of its Mozartean predecessors, but begins to show a creativity of its own that would bloom in the Fourth and Fifth Concertos.
The main thing you have to remember about the recording, though, is that the solo instrument used for this period-instrument production is a copy of an 1824 Conrad Graf fortepiano. The fortepiano hit its prime in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It’s the instrument Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven would have written for until it evolved into the modern grand piano. While the sound of the fortepiano is not as tinkly or ringing as a harpsichord, it isn’t quite as powerful or well-rounded as that of a modern grand, not as rich or mellow, the lows in particular not as plush or resonant. Nonetheless, Bezuidenhout teases some beguiling sounds from it, and the Freiburg ensemble accompany him with an easy precision, Maestro Heras-Casado ensuring that the playing never sounds feverish or rushed.
After an extended introduction from the orchestra, the piano enters with a flourish, then a gentle lyricism that clearly belongs to the early Romantic tradition. The tempos vary but both the soloist and the conductor steadily adhere to Beethoven’s marking of Allegro con brio, with liveliness and vigor. Yet the presentation remains relaxed and confident throughout. Bezuidenhout manages an elegant yet exciting performance using the ancient fortepiano replica, and within moments one forgets it’s not a grand. The Largo that follows is hushed and serene, a gentle interlude before the more playfully tempestuous Rondo finale. Given the varied and plentiful contrasts involved in the concerto, you won’t find a better clarification of it than here.
The second selection on the disc is the Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15, written in 1795 and more clearly a descendent of the Classical Haydn and Mozart era. Beethoven actually wrote his Second Piano Concerto before the First, but he didn’t publish it until later, so if you like it better than the numbered 2, it might be because it’s a slightly later work. Whatever, it’s always been among my favorites, and Bezuidenhout and Heras-Casado give it the same detailed attention they provided the other concertos in the set, meaning the playing is radiant, scintillating, and effervescent throughout. I would count these performances of all five Beethoven piano concertos among the very best available, regardless of period or modern instruments.
Producer and editor Martin Sauer and engineer Tobias Lehmann recorded the music for Teldex Studio Berlin at the Ensemblehaus Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany in December 2017. The recording projects just the right amount of hall ambience and a reverberance that flatters the sound yet still provides good definition and a realistic setting at the same time. The piano is well positioned in the center of the sound field, not too far in front of the orchestra, with a modest degree of depth to the rest of the cast.
JJP
By John J. Puccio
The first selection on the album is the more-popular and more-mature of the pieces, the Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37, which Beethoven wrote around 1800 and published in 1804. It still retains some evidence of its Mozartean predecessors, but begins to show a creativity of its own that would bloom in the Fourth and Fifth Concertos.
The main thing you have to remember about the recording, though, is that the solo instrument used for this period-instrument production is a copy of an 1824 Conrad Graf fortepiano. The fortepiano hit its prime in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It’s the instrument Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven would have written for until it evolved into the modern grand piano. While the sound of the fortepiano is not as tinkly or ringing as a harpsichord, it isn’t quite as powerful or well-rounded as that of a modern grand, not as rich or mellow, the lows in particular not as plush or resonant. Nonetheless, Bezuidenhout teases some beguiling sounds from it, and the Freiburg ensemble accompany him with an easy precision, Maestro Heras-Casado ensuring that the playing never sounds feverish or rushed.
After an extended introduction from the orchestra, the piano enters with a flourish, then a gentle lyricism that clearly belongs to the early Romantic tradition. The tempos vary but both the soloist and the conductor steadily adhere to Beethoven’s marking of Allegro con brio, with liveliness and vigor. Yet the presentation remains relaxed and confident throughout. Bezuidenhout manages an elegant yet exciting performance using the ancient fortepiano replica, and within moments one forgets it’s not a grand. The Largo that follows is hushed and serene, a gentle interlude before the more playfully tempestuous Rondo finale. Given the varied and plentiful contrasts involved in the concerto, you won’t find a better clarification of it than here.
Producer and editor Martin Sauer and engineer Tobias Lehmann recorded the music for Teldex Studio Berlin at the Ensemblehaus Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany in December 2017. The recording projects just the right amount of hall ambience and a reverberance that flatters the sound yet still provides good definition and a realistic setting at the same time. The piano is well positioned in the center of the sound field, not too far in front of the orchestra, with a modest degree of depth to the rest of the cast.
JJP
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