Unlikely duo's Beethoven concertos produces a bang

Talking about quirky mismatch collaborations, some few I could think are Glenn Gould/Leonard Bernstein, Richter/Karajan and
Barenboim/Klemperer. Gould/Bernstein recorded a "Emperor" which was controversial in its eccentricity, and which even the very "schmalzy" Lenny finds it too hard to keep up (you get what i mean). Enigmatic Sviatoslav Richter recorded a Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto with Herbert von Karajan which critics pointed out as a classic "mismatch". A fiery, passionate Richter in odds with the cool, icy Karajan. They never recorded anything after that (although I do not know if the legendary Triple Concerto with Oistrakh and Slava were recorded before or after). And the recording I so want to hear for the hell of it; the same Beethoven concertos with Daniel Barenboim paired with the Otto Klemperer. That's right, how could a young brilliant pianist such as Barenboim be able to cope with Klemperer's granitic conducting and penchant for slow tempos? The only complaint criticism I've heard about the set is rather the recording quality, not the performers so I cross my fingers and hope to find it someday.

Meanwhile the collaboration of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, one of early music pioneers and contemporary music specialist Pierre-Laurent Aimard doesn't really sound quirky. Both has in common intelligence and eagerness to find new life in an already familiar set of warhorses. Harnoncourt as we know, isn't really a pure HIP (Historically Informed Practice) scholar unlike some very dogmatic interpreters like Sir Roger Norrington and his Beethoven cycles on Teldec demonstrated his own sync of "Harnoncourt" mannerisms combining his decades of HIP knowledge with his own ideas of interpretation and orchestration. Pierre-Laurent Aimard was 20 when he graduated from Paris Conservatoire and was invited by Pierre Boulez to join Ensemble Intercontemporain as a founding member. Today he is a revered name in pantheon of today's celebrated pianists with his CDs of Ligeti, Debussy and live recitals critically acclaimed. From an article on New York Times, quotes "

Mr. Aimard admits that not long ago he would have deemed ''preposterous'' the very idea of adding yet another account of these war horses to a market already saturated with high-quality recordings. ''I had always preferred to do something 'useful,' '' Mr. Aimard writes, ''by recording music not found in catalogs, especially the works of our own time.''

But when Mr. Harnoncourt asked him to collaborate on the Beethoven project, he found the invitation too intriguing to resist. ''To some, we seemed to be fundamentally opposed through our musical cultures, the type of repertoire we championed, our respective images,'' Mr. Aimard writes. ''It turned out, however, that this experience was the most natural, the most moving, the most fortunate that one could imagine.''

I have to admit I was not exposed to monsieur Aimard's playing much (my first experience was sampling one of his Ligeti Etudes cd). What struck me first was the crystal-like clarity (typical characteristic of contemporary pianist) but also at the same time there's display of immense energy and at same time probing intelligence. But again, being familiar with 20th century composers such as Ligeti, Boulez, Debussy etc the fingerwork and pyrotechnics of these concertos are effortlessly tackled by monsieur Aimard.

I have grown to admire Harnoncourt's Beethoven and I think today he may be worthy to be placed alongside pantheon of Beethoven interpreters such as Furtwangler, Karajan, Klemperer etc. My experiences of his recording of symphonies with Chamber Orchestra of Europe is mixed, at times the results could be dazzling, revolutionary even and at worst, he typically will make you want to look at paint dry instead but like Furtwangler, he is a risk-taker and not the type who would stay safe like say, Mr K =P In this recording, his typical direction of the COoE players (50 players playing H.I.P style on modern instruments save period trumpets) ironically is safeproof because there is right amount of balance just to accomodate the soloist. Big band orchestras has tendency to overwhelm the soloist and too small, too H.I.P may sound a bit too "sissy" for the composer himself.

Reviews have been mixed, but for me these concertos is the one I will keep listening until I discover Serkin/Szell, Kempff/Ferdinand or even Klemp/Barenboim. There are some mannerisms that may be annoying (for instance the "delay" in chord punctuations in 1st movement of Emperor) and even a fluffed note (around 5 minutes in 1st movement of 1st Concerto) but if you love Beethoven, you must listen to this set. You will either love it or despise it and nothing else.


Recording: 9
Technical: 10
Interpretation: 9