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Highly Characterful and Dynamic
LUCAS BALL listens to Beethoven from Igor Levit and Xiaohan Wang
'... most of what this CD has to offer is top notch ...'
There are certain things in this recording I would question. The beginning of the third movement of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 1 does not feel natural. Pianist Igor Levit seems to 'crush' the notes in the recurring first theme.
Listen — Beethoven: Rondo. Allegro scherzando (Piano Concerto No 1 in C, Op 15)
(track 3, 0:00-0:16) ℗ 2007 Naxos Deutschland GmbH :
Other pianists - Martha Argerich, Khatia Buniatishvili or Kristian Zimerman for example - do not treat it in this way and I would have preferred it if Igor Levit did not do that.
For all that, I love the treatment of these early Beethoven concertos by both the soloists on this CD - Piano Concerto No 2 has Xiaohan Wang as soloist. They seem to have recognised with conductor Helmut Müller-Brühl that this is when Beethoven's early classical style is still rather hard to differentiate from that of Mozart and Haydn. Their interpretation along with the Kölner Kammerorchester is highly characterful and dynamic in all the movements of both concerti.
Listen — Beethoven: Allegro con brio (Piano Concerto No 1 in C, Op 15)
(track 1, 3:14-4:12) ℗ 2007 Naxos Deutschland GmbH :
Listen — Beethoven: Rondo. Allegro scherzando (Piano Concerto No 1 in C, Op 15)
(track 3, 0:33-0:52) ℗ 2007 Naxos Deutschland GmbH :
Listen — Beethoven: Allegro con brio (Piano Concerto No 2 in B flat, Op 19)
(track 4, 2:51-3:51) ℗ 2007 Naxos Deutschland GmbH :
The treatment of the melodic phrases in piano and orchestra is great in the slow movements of both works.
Listen — Beethoven: Largo (Piano Concerto No 1 in C, Op 15)
(track 2, 0:00-0:48) ℗ 2007 Naxos Deutschland GmbH :
Listen — Beethoven: Adagio (Piano Concerto No 2 in B flat, Op 19)
(track 5, 1:50-2:44) ℗ 2007 Naxos Deutschland GmbH :
If the last movement of the B flat concerto first theme feels unnatural, I think it is because of Beethoven's writing, which has, in this instance, a rare stilted quality about it.
Some analysts say that Piano Concerto No 2 is the least interesting of the Beethoven Piano Concerti. My stance is that it is the last movement in this concerto that is the weakness. Beethoven's innovation of putting quavers and crotchets in an unexpected place during the first theme 'wrong foots' the listener. It is therefore memorable for the wrong reasons.
Listen — Beethoven: Rondo. Molto allegro (Piano Concerto No 2 in B flat, Op 19)
(track 6, 0:00-0:23) ℗ 2007 Naxos Deutschland GmbH :
Some may argue otherwise, but compare this material to some of Beethoven's later concerti - Piano Concerto No 4 and Piano Concerto No 5, Emperor in particular - and one may well come to the conclusion that No 4 and No 5 are surely Beethoven at his greatest.
In my opinion, most of what this CD has to offer is top notch, so any drawbacks mentioned here are only minor.
Copyright © 4 May 2021
Lucas Ball,
Worcestershire UK
CD INFORMATION: IGOR LEVIT, XIAOHAN WANG - BEETHOVEN CONCERTOS
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