Stemming from two concerts held in November 1994, these live Suisse Romande Radio archive recordings appear for the first time on CD, to the best of my knowledge. Collectors who know Christian Zacharias’ 1980s EMI studio Beethoven concerto cycle with Hans Vonk and the Staatskapelle Dresden will find the pianist’s conceptions similarly small-scaled yet crystal clear and sparklingly symmetrical, not unlike Solomon or Walter Gieseking at their Beethovenian best.
However, the presence of an audience seems to elicit greater animation from Zacharias in the First, Second, and Fourth concerto finales, along with a freer approach to the cadenzas, with stronger emphasis on left-hand material. This proves especially revelatory in the Third concerto first movement, where Zacharias’ phrase groupings and accentuations seem more oriented toward bass lines and harmonic movement than the norm. On the other hand, similar expressive devices dissipate the cadenza’s rhythmic momentum in the first movement of the Second concerto.
Although the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande cannot match the Dresden ensemble’s tonal sheen and gorgeous sectional blending, Armin Jordan’s energetic, assertive support and keen attention to woodwind detail (notably in the Fourth and Fifth first-movement development sections) should not go unnoticed. Cadenza-wise, the pianist plays his own tasteful concoction in No. 1, the more common first movement option in No. 4 (the one Schnabel, Arrau, and Fleisher favored), and Beethoven’s originals elsewhere. If you collect multiple Beethoven concerto cycles, consider this release an attractive supplement to the reference versions.
