Page 423 - Liverpool Philharmonic 22-23 Season Coverage Book

influence. ‘The highlight of the concerto is, for me, the second movement’,
he writes, and I agree with him. The finale he describes as ‘unbridled fun. No
great depth here’, and I agree with him there too. The work is a pleasant
listen, perhaps not much more than that. (Beethoven was only just a
teenager, after all.) Giltburg clearly feels strongly that the work was worth
reviving and his outstanding performance makes the very best case for it.

The recording team led by Andrew Keener provides us with superb sound,
with a near-ideal balance between soloist and orchestra in the ‘Emperor’. The
booklet is graced by a probing and eloquent note by Giltburg himself. He
even launches into a discussion about whether we should really be calling
Beethoven’s Op. 73 the ‘Emperor’ or not, but with a verbal dexterity that
matches that of his fingers he does not come down on either side of the
fence.

William Hedley