Page 422 - Liverpool Philharmonic 22-23 Season Coverage Book

lightness of touch about his playing that is refreshing and satisfying. A
splendid accelerando in the lead-in to the cadenza sounds like a nod in the
direction of Beethovenian humour, a quality I find frequently overlooked in
Beethoven’s music.

The vibrato-light playing of the superb string section at the opening of the
slow movement suggests that the performance has been prepared with
period practice in mind. The atmosphere in this passage is, none the less, a
subtly romantic one, which Giltburg once again underlines at his entry.
Restful tranquillity is eventually disturbed by the fateful, downward semitone
step that leads into the finale. The orchestra’s treatment of the main theme
is dry and abrupt, in contrast with the soloist from whom choice has been
removed by the composer’s insistence on using the pedal. It is here,
especially, that the listener remarks on the dexterity of Giltburg’s left hand
playing, splendidly delicate and hugely powerful in turn. Listen out, also, for
the deft manner in which he inserts those frequent ‘extra’ notes in the
running right hand passages in this movement.

Times have changed and interpretations of Beethoven’s concertos have
evolved. We are a world away here from Serkin with Bernstein (Sony), the
only conductor in my experience to make a crescendo on the opening chords.
(I love that performance, however.) This is not a barnstorming ‘Emperor’,
but one that is, perhaps, a little ‘middle of the road’. It is a performance to
enjoy and admire rather than to be surprised by, but one in which the
character and individuality of the playing, from both soloist and orchestra,
shine through. I believe that a music lover coming new to the work will be
just as thrilled with it as I was – as we all were – so many years ago when
we too heard it for the first time. This is reason enough to recommend this
thoroughly engaging and enjoyable performance.

Is the reading of the ‘Emperor’ concerto sufficiently individual to encourage
collectors who already have numerous accounts on their shelves? Looking at
mine, the aforementioned Serkin is an experience not to be missed, as is
Barenboim, older than his years, with Klemperer (Warner). Another favourite
of mine is Yefim Bronfman (Arte Nova), though I think Petrenko gets playing
of greater character from his superb Liverpool players than did David Zinman
in Zurich. In the present case the coupling might well decide the matter. The
idea of a Piano Concerto No. 0 is intriguing. The work was composed when
Beethoven was 13, but the orchestral score has been lost, leaving only the
solo part that also includes a reduction of the orchestral part when the soloist
is not playing. Boris Giltburg has elected to play the work from this score, so
what we have is a kind of concerto with no orchestra. This works well
enough, the only really strange passage occurring in the first movement
when the soloist would have played the cadenza – improvised by the young
Beethoven and reimagined by Giltburg here – with the accustomed trills to
herald the return of an orchestra that never arrives. I was expecting the
work to sound like Mozart, but it doesn’t, not really. Giltburg is a fine
advocate for the work, both in the performance and in a fine and very
readable booklet note where he invokes Johann Christian Bach as a possible