These 1983 live Beethoven Piano Concerto recordings relay a real sense of occasion. Brendel and Levine both exhibit high energy throughout all five works, from an assertive No. 1, a fleet and Mozartean No. 2 and No. 3, an elevated and flowing No. 4, and a grand and boisterous “Emperor”. Brendel plays in his usual intellectually brilliant manner, with an emphasis on technical polish and an occasional bit of humor (as in No. 1 and No. 5). However he displays little of the imaginative fantasy of Kempff, or the magisterial air of Arrau, and certainly not the distinctive distillation of beauty and power found in Fleisher’s classic performances. For his part Levine gets the Chicago Symphony to join in his ebullient spirit for the orchestral accompaniments.
The weak point in this set always has been the dry and somewhat bodiless recording. Although there’s more flesh on the sound in this remastering, it’s still a long way from the three-dimensional solidity of Telarc’s Serkin recording, or even Philips’ more robust recording for Arrau. Happily, the producers have seen fit to remove the applause that appeared before each concerto, leaving it at the end where it belongs. Brendel’s rather straitlaced reading of the Choral Fantasy with Haitink and his London Philharmonic forces serves as a makeweight for disc three, and shouldn’t be a factor in your purchasing decision.
