In several ways, this is a completely fresh reading of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58, and Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73 ("Emperor"). Given the sheer volume of interpretations on the market, that's not an easy thing to achieve, and regardless of what your impressions may be of what pianist Nicholas Angelich and conductor Laurence Equilbey have accomplished here, this is the kind of recording that demands to be heard. There are historically oriented performances of Beethoven, but this one ...
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In several ways, this is a completely fresh reading of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58, and Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73 ("Emperor"). Given the sheer volume of interpretations on the market, that's not an easy thing to achieve, and regardless of what your impressions may be of what pianist Nicholas Angelich and conductor Laurence Equilbey have accomplished here, this is the kind of recording that demands to be heard. There are historically oriented performances of Beethoven, but this one falls into a rarer category, for Beethoven at least: the recording that is informed by historical practices, but does not submerge itself in them. Angelich's piano is an early, 20th century Pleyel instrument, pointed and clear without being especially loud. The Insula Orchestra is small and plays on period instruments. The result is a light, transparent sound that evokes the orchestras of Beethoven's time in its dimensions. Equilbey and Angelich further state that they aim to...
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