This performance of Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto with pianist François-Frédéric Guy and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, conducted by Philippe Jordan, is notable for its elegance and rhythmic springiness. This is not a heavily Romantic reading; the performers emphasize the concerto's Classical delicacy and briskness, with special attention given to the integrity of the individual lines. Both pianist and orchestra approach the first movement with crisp precision, but their performance is rhythmically limber and ...
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This performance of Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto with pianist François-Frédéric Guy and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, conducted by Philippe Jordan, is notable for its elegance and rhythmic springiness. This is not a heavily Romantic reading; the performers emphasize the concerto's Classical delicacy and briskness, with special attention given to the integrity of the individual lines. Both pianist and orchestra approach the first movement with crisp precision, but their performance is rhythmically limber and never stiffly mechanical reserved. There is plenty of passion here, and the cadenza is effusively lyrical. The contrast between the piano and orchestra in the dialogue in the second movement is especially dramatic, as the piano seductively draws the orchestra, with its brusque interjections, down to its own level of serenity and intimacy; it's a surprisingly sensual effect. The third movement is perhaps played the most conventionally, without the clearly delineated distinctiveness...
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