Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 3 & 4
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Music CD Cover
Composer: Ludwig van BeethovenConductor: David Zinman
Orchestra: Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra
Performer: Yefim Bronfman
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2005-09-13
Music Label: Arte Nova Classics
Soundtracks:
- I. Allegro con brio
- II. Largo
- III. Rondo: Allegro
- I. Allegro moderato
- II. Andante con moto
- III. Rondo: Vivace
Free Music Notes for Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 3 & 4
Free Music Review: A Definitive Recording?
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm always looking for a recording that is both inspiring yet revelatory at the same time, and this recording with Bronfman and Zinman at the helm is a true gem. What makes this recording a success? Balance, Artistry, and Passion.
Throughout the recording, I am impressed by the balance of sound on many levels. First, the recording balance between the pianist and orchestra is well matched during the tutti sections and the quasi-ensemble playing between the soloist and the solo parts of the orchestra. In the 3rd Concerto, we can hear the piano part interplaying with the wind instruments, similarly with the cello in the last movement of the 4th. The solo orchestral parts do not sound perfunctionary but equally present and passionate as the pianist himself. The recording is quite bright without sounding brittle, yet expansive and relatively warm at the same time. The use of wooden mallets in the timpani in the 3rd, unfortunately not used in the 4th, seems to add a period yet logical timbre and punch to the recording. But the true artistry of balance lies in the hand of the pianist himself, Yefim Bronfman. Bronfman has an uncanny ability to control the sounds levels of his diminuendo's, crescendo's, and sforzando's that makes sense and keeps you engaged without your hearing being dulled by blankets of forte or piano passages. This fine balancing act is so skillfully done in the piano passages playing along with the orchestra and in between right and left hands by subduing or bringing out one part over another.
But the true gem of this recording lies in the hands of the pianist himself. Here we see great artistry at work. A lot of recordings of these concertos have been either pedestrian or eccentric due to either uninspired playing or over-playing by prima donnas who have too much ego to burn. But in this recording, we truly see the treasures of the music come to life without the over-manipulation of tempi, dynamics, or ideas. Bronfman achieves bringing such great quality to his playing by maximing his ideas and range within a limited scope of pianistic range without stepping out of the period perimeters: exquisite phrasing of line, a constant sense of direction of ideas on both microscopic and macroscopic levels, a wide variety of logical touch and textures without sounding outlandish, giving full and correct values to all notes thus affording them each a great sense of presence and purpose (in the 1st movement of the 3rd concerto, the surge of energy in the scalar right hand parts going from triplets to 16th's sends shivers down my spine), not rushing or overplaying phrases or passages for the sake of effect or ego, clear and clean passages without over-pedaling, and observing all dynamic markings with total commitment and purpose. Here we see Bronfman recognizing that while he has the capacity to overpower the pieces (I have his wonderful Rachmaninoff concertos recording), he has chosen to show clever yet imaginative restraint as he brings these gems to life.
Finally, the above qualities would not be enough to make a recording truly remarkable or inspiring without Passion. One could easily approach a piece with all the passion in the world and leave the listener overwhelmed or overfed. But this recording is filled with calculated artistic passion that is delivered in various dosages that are just right for the given moment, yet making sense connecting one passage to another. This level of calculation keeps the listener in each moment yet allowing him/her to anticipate the next without much sense of predictability or expectation - this is what makes music exciting.
Both pianist and orchestra know when to hold back and revel in the beauty of the music, and to charge along with pure abandonment without losing control.
A Definitive Recording? I think so for me, until something better knocks it off its place, which I don't foresee in the near future.
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 3 & 4 Poster
Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 1958, Yefim Bronfman emigrated to Israel at the age of 13 and later to the U.S., where he pursued his training at the Juilliard School and the Marlboro and Curtis Institutes under Rudolf Serkin, Rudolf Firkusny and Leon Fleisher. Bronfman celebrated his international d?but in 1975, accompanied by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under Zubin Mehta. He soon acquired an excellent reputation as a pianist on the stages of the world's major concert halls. Highlights of recent years include concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam and the Vienna Philharmonic. Yefim Bronfman also gives regular piano recitals in the leading concert halls of the United States, Europe and the Far East. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with the Emerson, Cleveland, Guarneri and Juilliard Quartets. Other! long-term musical partners include Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Lynn Harrell, Shlomo Mintz and Pinchas Zukerman. Yefim Bronfman became an American citizen in 1989. Born in 1936, American conductor David Zinman has risen to the pinnacle of his career in the last decade. After bringing the Baltimore Symphony to major status, he became musical director of the Aspen Music Festival and then took the helm of Zurich's beloved Tonhalle Orchestra. Zinman's discography of some 100 recordings have won five Grammys and two Grands Prix du Disque. Founded in 1868, the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra is Switzerland's oldest symphony orchestra. Today it gives over 90 concerts each season featuring more than 50 different programs with the world's leading conductors and solo artists. David Zinman sees Piano Concerto No. 3 - the only one in a minor key - as a kind of "Eroica" for piano and orchestra. Just as Beethoven opened the door to an entirely new symphonic world with his third symphony, the Eroica, he also broke new ground with his third piano concerto. For Yefim Bronfman, the Fourth is the concerto "with the broadest emotional spectrum, and at the same time possibly the most dramati."Classical Music CDs
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