This disc rounds out the Beethoven concerto cycle by the young Finnish pianist Olli Mustonen, earlier items of which have inspired wildly varied reactions among listeners. Mustonen is something of an innovator/radical/eccentric (take your pick), and his interpretations are revelatory for some, mannered for others. As usual, the truth is probably going to poke its head out somewhere in the middle, and Mustonen like every other pianist will be pegged for strengths and weaknesses. This disc offers, perhaps, good examples of ...
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This disc rounds out the Beethoven concerto cycle by the young Finnish pianist Olli Mustonen, earlier items of which have inspired wildly varied reactions among listeners. Mustonen is something of an innovator/radical/eccentric (take your pick), and his interpretations are revelatory for some, mannered for others. As usual, the truth is probably going to poke its head out somewhere in the middle, and Mustonen like every other pianist will be pegged for strengths and weaknesses. This disc offers, perhaps, good examples of both. Mustonen's approach is at the same time dryly witty and oriented toward the excavation of the inner structures of the music (which is saying something). His tempos are variable, even to the point of inserting lengthy ritardandi into the music in order to bring out the inner voices of chords and cadential passages, which take on unsuspected new significance in his readings. His solo sections are lively and quite distinct from the orchestral music that corresponds to them. Start at...
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