Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73 'Emperor'

Beethoven - Violin Concerto

Volume 24 of the Glenn Gould Complete Jacket Collection

The Canadian musician Glenn Gould was undoubtedly one of the greatest pianists of all time. To mark the 75th anniversary of his birth, and the 25th anniversary of his death, Sony BMG Masterworks presents this seminal artist’s vinyl recordings as re-mastered CDs, designed to replicate the exact artwork of the original gramophone records in miniaturised form. Already issued as part of an 80-CD box set (88697130942), these albums are now being made available individually.

Shura Cherkassky

Recorded: Usher Hall, 29 January 1992 (Beethoven), Royal Albert Hall, 14 September 1985 (Gershwin)

Beethoven - Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 5

1CD plus 1 DVD

Wilhelm Backhaus

Lugano, 11 June 1953

George Szell

Recorded 1961 & 1965

Beethoven - Piano Concertos Nos. 4 & 5

Beethoven - Piano Concertos

Most orchestras play these two concertos with large instrumental forces, which means that the strings tend to drown the piano, a problem that is generally overcome by using a piano built at a later date and therefore producing a stronger sound. However, the orchestral score shows clearly that only one instrument was used for each string part. The conductor's role was reduced to little more than beating time and it was usually the first violin or keyboard player who led the ensemble.

The Fourth Concerto, written for an instrument covering eight and a half octaves, was probably written for the piano that Beethoven received from the French firm Érard in 1803, which possessed new elements, unknown in Viennese pianos of the time, such as pedals and the una corda register. The Fifth Concerto was written for a six-octave Viennese piano, possibly one by Nanette Streicher, which was adapted to suit the new French taste, while retaining the sparkling, light, clear sound of the early Viennese instruments. Study of the autograph manuscripts of the Fifth Concerto brings a huge surprise: the presence of a basso continuo part! The pianist naturally played during the tutti passages, thus indicating the tempo and the phrasing.