Beethoven Piano Concertos 4 and 5.

[Drasko]

....... but I have an old IGI LP of [Michelangeli] performances with Zdravkovic of #4......

Read somewhere that authenticity of that one has been questioned by Centro di Documentazione
"Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli" and that it is now believed to be Maria Tipo playing and not Michelangeli. Don't know the details but if interested you could try e-mailing them.

[sidoze]

yeah that one has been talked about for a while. I remember DK praising it to the sky before finding out that it's supposedly Tipo (a pianist he doesn't like, god knows why).

[dirkronk]

I'll be darned. Thanks for the info. Obviously I missed out on all the discussion about that one. I still like the performance, so I'm not going to ditch the album. But if it's true that it's Tipo, I guess it would make sense...I've kept that album in part because I've never seen another recording of Michelangeli playing the 4th concerto. Did the guy just not include that in his repertoire--just as Richter never did the 2, 4 and 5? I once THOUGHT that I'd seen (and even bought) a 4th on DGG from the live and videotaped cycle that ABM did with Giulini, but my last foray into my boxed LPs yielded no such treasure, and I've been assured by other collectors that it doesn't exist. I knew that there was no 2 ever issued on vinyl, but I own the 1, 3 and 5...and somehow "remembered" that I'd found the 4 right at the tail end of the vinyl era. So much for the reliability of my brain cells. Drat. The mind DOES play tricks when you have more recordings in your collection than you can comfortably recall. I'll stop typing now and go buy a king-size bottle of ginkgo biloba...



Dirk

P.S. OK, I just zipped around to the only ABM online discography I currently have bookmarked and the Zdravkovic is the only performance of the 4th listed, so I guess I just answered my own question.

[wilhelm]

or

[Que]

I'll mention a few - the more I hear, the less I have clear favourites.

For both concertos: Schnabel/ Sargent; Solomon/Cluytens/Menges

no. 4: Gieseking/Böhm

no. 5: Kempff/ Van Kempen

Q

[dirkronk]

Solomon/Cluytens/Menges

Oh, yes. Most definitely. Should have mentioned these myself.

Dirk

[Dancing Divertimentian]

I heartily second the Katchen/Gamba listed previously.

[val]

My favorite are:

Concerto 4 -  Gilels, Ludwig / Backhaus, Isserstedt / Serkin, Toscanini

Concerto 5 -  Gilels, Ludwig / Kempff, van Kempen / Curzon, Knappertsbusch

[Tyson]

My vote goes to the recent Bronfman/Zinman recordings.  Second choice would be Pollini/Abbado, 3rd is Gilels/Szell, and 4th would be either of the Kempff sets.

[Mark]

The Bronfman/Zinman pairing is pretty popular around here. Is that four or five recommendations, now?

[George]

The Bronfman/Zinman pairing is pretty popular around here. Is that four or five recommendations, now?

4 and 5. 

[Valentino]

Methinks:
One should leave Moravec unheard in no. 4, recorded with Musikverein-Orchestra Vienna and Turnovský in the mid-sixties. On Supraphon.

[George]

Methinks:
One should leave Moravec unheard in no. 4, recorded with Musikverein-Orchestra Vienna and Turnovský in the mid-sixties. On Supraphon.

Do you mean one should not leave Moravec unheard?

[Valentino]

  Insert NOT where appliccable, George.


That was a whoopsy all right. Thanks.

[George]

Insert NOT where appliccable, George.


That was a whoopsy all right. Thanks.

[Haffner]

4 - Arrau/Haitink


5 - Polloni/Boehm or Serkin/Bernstein (with an equally incredible 3)

The Boehm I have, and it's fantastic...it's the best I have. I'd strongly reccomend checking out any of George's LvB reccomendations, as the man definitely knows the most satisfying recordings.

[Mark]

I'm listening to a recording of Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto which, while it doesn't fulfil the OP's brief by being in any way 'kick-ass', is nonetheless one to which I'm inclined to return. It was, for me, the breakthrough recording of this concerto - and by 'breakthrough', I mean it was the performance that woke me up to this work. Surprising, really, as I don't think I own a less bombastic (i.e. 'awakening') interpretation than this:



My liking for it is undiminished, it would seem, in the five years since I first really listened to it (I'd owned it for a lot longer), and while there's not a great deal to admire in the orchestral playing, Vladar's pianism is well worth the cover price. He's sensitive, precise and seems to judge tempi just right. I'd certainly urge you to grab it if you see it going cheaply (well, cheaper than it already is ). Be aware, however, that there's also a Naxos release of this same Fourth Piano Concerto coupled with Vladar's take on the Third. Go for the one pictured here if you can - his Third is less interesting, IMO; whereas his Fifth is really rather good, though not earth-shatteringly so.

[Norbeone]

Would I be laughed at for recommending Gould?   

[MishaK]

Would I be laughed at for recommending Gould?   

I am standing by to laugh at that recommendation should the opportunity arise. 

[Norbeone]

I am standing by to laugh at that recommendation should the opportunity arise. 

Noted.