The idea to record all five of Beethoven's piano concertos in one ten-day session was initially seen as "deranged, lunatic, nigh-impossible and physically exhausting" by the performer Kristian Bezuidenhout.
Interpretation
The performers aimed to combine modern critical scholarship with original edition articulations and dynamics, and re-examined Beethoven's figuration decisions in the piano parts.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Beethoven, like Mozart, carefully guarded his piano concertos, reserving the right to perform them himself, believing only he could truly bring them to life.
Compositional Technique
Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto begins with the solo piano presenting the opening thematic material alone in a hushed pianissimo, a novel approach that likely perplexed its first audience.
Composer Biography
Beethoven's increasing deafness meant that the premiere of his Fourth Piano Concerto in 1808 was his last public appearance as a concerto soloist.
Composition History
Beethoven's Coriolan Overture, composed in 1807, was likely never performed as a prelude to Heinrich Joseph von Collin's tragedy Coriolan, but rather as a standalone concert overture.
Instruments
The album features a bright-toned, richly colourful, and singing copy of a Graf fortepiano, built by Rodney Regier in 1989 and owned by Edwin Beunk.
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Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 & Egmont and Coriolan Overtures
