This blog is the long promised space to allow our communal prepare for Barenboim's London Beethoven piano concerto series January and February 2010.
The idea is to pick particular interpretations of Beethoven's piano concertos, listen them more or less at the same time, and then discuss them here. I think this would be a very good fun.
The idea comes from my earlier experience on Daniel Barenboim reinterpreting a classic piece. A few years back he went to Budapest to play one of Bartok's piano concertos. To play Bartok in Budapest, a piano concerto at that, could be seen as somewhat risk taking... To say that the audience was sceptical would be an understatement. Barenboim's solution to this problem was to completely reinterpret the whole thing. Instead of following the classical line, say in line with that iconic Kocsis-Fischer recording, he chose to play the concerto in a 1950's jazz style. It was Earth-shattering. It not only shed a new light on Bartok's piece, but also was a revelation about jazz. It was just incredible. (I must admit though, that not everyone in the audience shared my enthusiasm: the people seemed to be evenly divided into two emotionally charged groups. A lot of raised voices in the foyer.) I suspect that we could hear a similar reinterpretation in London, and if so, preparing for it might just raise our joy level.
YOUR JOB 1. So, if you want to chat here, please say so, so everyone else would know that you are here. Then I can give you rights to post blogposts here.
YOUR JOB 2. If you know particular recordings that would be useful to include (maybe we should aim at ten or so altogether?) please say so.
I would put forward Rubinstein's and Alfred Brendel's (I think 1984 recording, but can't find the cd case now -- the curse of putting your music on itunes...). (On the B-List, perhaps Schiff's 1997, but I doubt that we will run out of A list stuff.) Does anyone know the 1994 Abbado - Pollini - Berliner Philharmoniker recording, btw?
YOUR JOB 3. Comment if you want this site to be open to others or closed and thus limited to invitees.
(NB. If you are trying to buy tickets now, the series is four concerts on four different days.)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Excellent idea, with the obvious possibilities awry ("OFF"), e.g., why Barenboim's Bruckner is one of the best interpretations, or how Barenboim understands the Goldberg etc.:)
ReplyDeleteTurning back, as to Beethoven piano concerti, Brendel, too, is really at the pike, and some comparison would be nice (in the future) to authentic versions like those of Steven Lubin or the "clockwork" Malvyn Tan.
Recently, the cycle of Ránki was lavish at Budapest, he emerged into the greatest contemporary interpretators. The time for pianists (Schiff!) is like the time for vines.
I just have discovered that BFO recorded the entire set with Richard Goode, but I have not heard it yet. (OFF. btw, the Proms BFO concert was incredible -- at least the second half -- Dvorak 7. The first half was Bartok's violin concerto, with Kavakos, who played like an uninvolved technician. But the Dvorak brought a new experience: I got seriously dizzy. I was not alone: the other 5000 were mesmerised, too, at least judging by the dead silence.)
ReplyDeleteEvi suggested that we listen to the new Schiff recording -- I presume Solt referred to this one. But I cannot find it - has it come out yet?
- As to Schiff: I don't know whether the concerti came out with him or not*, till then listen to his unsurpassable Beethoven sonata recordings! Schiff grasps something different, something really deep (like, very long ago, Edwin Fischer) in Him (linguistically incorrectly naming Him now). His understanding is recently the most serious in Beethoven, I guess. His "Emperor" with Haitink is effervescent. Bernard Haitink is a leading conductor who accurately knows who the master is at a (Beethoven) piano concerto.
ReplyDelete*I think we are speaking about
http://www.last.fm/music/Andr%C3%A1s+Schiff/Beethoven+:+Piano+Concertos+Nos+1+-+5
- however, I haven't met it yet at Amazon.
Tamás's note on Dvorak 7 is important: "we" first had to learn that the Ninth is a true masterpiece, then "we" noticed that the real pike is the Eighth, but nowadays "we" are at the priority of the Seventh. I had the luck to listen to several masterly performance, so I am in that vague set of "we".