This Chandos reissue is full of big, rock-solid Beethoven. Walter Weller is clearly from the old school, and unashamed of it. There is something to be said for steadiness and cultivation of rich, full sonorities in Beethoven performance. Prometheus, Coriolan, and Leonore provide these qualities in full measure. However, there is a fiery, quixotic side to this composer that is little in evidence here. Massiveness does not automatically exclude flexibility and spontaneity, as evidenced by Bernstein’s dramatic Vienna readings or Szell’s intense ones with Cleveland. Grandiosity replaces weight in Weller’s traversal of the Emperor Concerto, with John Lill as soloist. Lill captures the somewhat rebellious nature of Beethoven’s masterpiece, if not its Lisztian quirkiness. He renders the all-important opening runs with passionate dexterity, and really plays up the element of dance in the finale. This would all be fine had we not been given a glimpse of a higher realm by pianists like Mitsuko Uchida (with Sanderling on Philips) and Leon Fleischer (with Szell on Sony Classical), a place where poetry and passion co-reign. Still, with inspired musicianship on all parts, including winningly alert playing by the City of Birmingham Symphony, this well-recorded collection makes a good alternative sampling of, or even an introduction to, Beethoven’s “other” orchestral masterworks.
