Beethoven Piano Your resource for the piano music of Ludwig van Beethoven

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Bernard Haitink is not usually thought of as an eminent Beethoven conductor, but this 7th Symphony is perhaps his best-recorded performance of any of the nine. Possibly due to the live concert setting, sparks fly as Haitink induces plenty of rhythmic drive and power, along with fabulous playing by an energized LSO, especially the important winds. His balanced, proportionate approach falls midway between the work's romanticism and its classical framework, avoiding excesses. If the second movement doesn't reach the depth of feeling others strike, it's because Haitink plays it as the flowing Allegretto it is, and not as a slow funeral march. His rip-roaring final movement avoids the runaway train others have evoked, but it's still bursting with vigor, as Beethoven intended. The substantial filler is the Triple Concerto, often looked down upon as inferior Beethoven, but so full of gorgeous melodies and varied timbres of the solo piano, violin, and cello that it's become one of my guilty pleasures, especially as done here in a reading that emphasizes the work's lyricism. --Dan Davis

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Downloadable sheet music file

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FOUR GRAMMY AWARD WINNING ARTISTS ON ONE DISC. As Beethoven himself was well aware, his Concerto for Piano, Violin and Cello - commonly called the "Triple Concerto" - was unique in musical literature. No one had ever written for this combination of solo instruments and orchestra. The Triple Concerto was first performed in Vienna in 1804, and apparently never again in Beethoven's lifetime! The work was neglected for years and is still a little overshadowed by the other Beethoven concertos, but this is in large part because it is seldom heard due to its extraordinary requirements for three major virtuosi. This recording offers three of today's leading soloists along with conductor David Zinman, whose Beethoven recordings have already become first choices with many listeners. Since making his debut at London's Festival Hall in 1981, pianist Yefim Bronfman has regularly played with the most renowned European, American and Far Eastern symphony orchestras. He was! awarded the Avery Fisher Prize in 1991. Israeli-American violinist Gil Shaham (b. 1971) studied at Juilliard and in 1990 was awarded the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant. Since then, he has pursued an extremely active international career and made numerous CD recordings. Gil Shaham plays a Stradivarius dating from 1699. Truls Mørk has long been one of the most renowned international cellists and plays with the world's leading symphony orchestras and conductors. An enthusiastic chamber musician, he undertook a successful tour of the U.S. with violinist Gil Shaham and pianist Yefim Bronfman in 2003. Born in 1936, American conductor David Zinman has risen to the pinnacle of his career in the last decade. His discography of some 100 recordings has won five Grammys and two Grands Prix du Disque. Founded in 1868, the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra is Switzerland's oldest symphony orchestra. Included as a major bonus is a splendid performance of Beethoven's early and massive chamber work masterpiece, the Septet, Op. 20.

asin: B0000029CU binding: Audio CD list price: $7.99 USD amazon price: $10.08 USD

Surprisingly, this seems to be the only coupling of the three most popular Clarinet Trios in the repertoire. The all-star ensemble, all musicians who have frequently performed together, turns out extremely fine performances of all three works. If the Brahms seems like the most thoroughly understood, in its combination of warmth and impulse, the other two works are nearly as fine. Very good sound, resonant and very well balanced, completes a total winner of a disc. --Leslie Gerber