Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 (1996)

Here German pianist Lars Vogt teams with Simon Rattle and his City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in a pairing of Beethoven's first two piano concertos -- one that stands out from the crowd of available recordings in its stylistic decisions. It's a wonderful and unusual recording, but it may also be a matter of taste in some ways. The most distinctive aspect is the strong contrast between the styles of the soloist and the orchestra: Vogt cultivates a light, airy sparkling tone that looks back to Haydn, while Rattle's ... Read More

Here German pianist Lars Vogt teams with Simon Rattle and his City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in a pairing of Beethoven's first two piano concertos -- one that stands out from the crowd of available recordings in its stylistic decisions. It's a wonderful and unusual recording, but it may also be a matter of taste in some ways. The most distinctive aspect is the strong contrast between the styles of the soloist and the orchestra: Vogt cultivates a light, airy sparkling tone that looks back to Haydn, while Rattle's statements from the orchestra are forceful and spacious. The approach works better in the Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15, which is actually the later of the two works; the extended orchestral exposition gives hints of the monumental Beethoven, and then when Vogt enters with his very fluid lines he establishes an interior realm that is very much in keeping with Beethoven's conception of the concerto soloist in general -- not always struggling titanically, but always very much an... Read Less