Wilhelm Kempff (2003)

Listeners should be grateful that Centurion has re-released these glorious performances by Wilhelm Kempff of Mozart and Beethoven. Grateful for the opportunity to hear Kempff's heartbreakingly beautiful 1941 recording of Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor with Paul van Kempen conducting the Dresden Philharmonic, grateful for the opportunity to hear Kempff's deeply soulful 1942 recording of Beethoven's Piano Concerto in C minor with the same conductor and orchestra. And especially grateful to hear Kempff's sublime 1932 ... Read More

Listeners should be grateful that Centurion has re-released these glorious performances by Wilhelm Kempff of Mozart and Beethoven. Grateful for the opportunity to hear Kempff's heartbreakingly beautiful 1941 recording of Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor with Paul van Kempen conducting the Dresden Philharmonic, grateful for the opportunity to hear Kempff's deeply soulful 1942 recording of Beethoven's Piano Concerto in C minor with the same conductor and orchestra. And especially grateful to hear Kempff's sublime 1932 recording of Beethoven's Piano Sonata in F sharp major. Listeners even have to be grateful for the opportunity to hear Kempff's performances even when they are filtered through the sieve of Centurion's painfully constrained remastering that takes almost all the guts, heart, and soul out of the recording. ~ James Leonard, Rovi Read Less