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

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There has, over the years, been mixed reactions to Michelangeli's Beethoven. He was a most perplexing artist, perplexing because he liked to keep his musical personality well hidden –or at any... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Release Date: 1st Nov 1987
Catalogue No: E4192492
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Length: 42 minutes

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

Work length42:25

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Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (piano)
Wiener Symphoniker
Carlo Maria Giulini
Recorded: 1979-02-01
Recording Venue: Grosser Saal, Musikverein, Wien

I. Allegro (I)

Track length21:05

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II. Adagio un poco mosso

Track length9:09

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III. Rondo (Allegro)

Track length12:11

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$2.05

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2010

There has, over the years, been mixed reactions to Michelangeli's Beethoven. He was a most perplexing artist, perplexing because he liked to keep his musical personality well hidden –or at any rate mysterious – behind the armour-plated magnificence of his playing; disconcerting too because it's hard to arrive at a reasoned assessment of readings of classical music by someone who evidently isn't a man of balance. To interpret texts of the classical masters in a way which will give them the most vivid life doesn't seem to be his principal concern. There could be an intellectual froideur about his playing of Beethoven which verges on the disdainful and which was sometimes more than off-putting.
Not here though. This performance was recorded at a public performance in the Musikverein.
He drives the opening flourishes hard, and thereafter responds keenly to Giulini's exposition, grand but always moving forward, matching it with a purpose that seems to derive from just that long-range musical thinking which is so often missing in his accounts of the other concertos. There's spaciousness, and time for everything, and always that rock-like strength of rhythm. The detailing could hardly be bettered but isn't allowed to deflect attention from our perception of the form. The security of the technique is enough to make most other pianists attempting an Olympian view of the concerto seem clumsy; but it doesn't draw attention to itself. Since the depth of his sonority is perfectly matched to the orchestra's, it makes for some especially exciting listening in the finale. Great playing by a great pianist.

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

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