Beethoven - Triple Concerto ~ Choral Fantasy / Perlman, Yo-Yo

Great Recordings Of The Century - Beethoven: Triple Concerto; Brahms: Double Concerto / Oistrakh, Rostropovich, Richter Among the concertos of Beethoven and Brahms, these two have always been stepchildren. One reason is their extreme difficulty; both composers were pianists, so Beethoven wrote an idiomatic part only for the piano. Brahms's friend Joseph Joachim offered advice for the violin concer...	Brahms: Double Concerto / Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto Classical music critics, jaded folks that we are, like to sneer at the propensity of major labels to throw big "stars" at a piece of music and then claim it's the greatest recording ever made. Sometimes the sneering is fair, but at other times it hinders an objective view of the ...	Beethoven: Concerto for violin in D When Itzhak Perlman recorded this disc, many critics were surprised by the sobriety and quiet poetry of his interpretation, as though his many fine chamber-music recordings did not provide ample evidence of Perlman's qualities as a "serious" musician. Although beautifully written...	Beethoven - Choral Fantasy and Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello & Piano / Barenboim, Ma, Perlman It would be difficult, perhaps impossible, to assemble a better group of musicians to perform Beethoven's Triple Concerto and Choral Fantasy. Daniel Barenboim has been so busy conducting the world's top orchestras and opera companies that there is a danger of forgetting what an...	Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor; Bruch: Violin Concerto #1; Itzhak Perlman
Beethoven: Mass in C; Elegiac Song; Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage	The Dvorak Album This compilation of music by Dvorak played by Yo-Yo Ma is just beautiful. Ma seems to understand just when Dvorak wants to be super-Romantic and sappy and when he is in fact being merely his usual expressive self. The former comes into bloom with the Slavonic Dance, in which he's...	Bach: Violin Concertos	Mozart: The Violin Sonatas	Beethoven: Symphonies 5 & 7 Long regarded as the quintessential interpretation of the most popular and best-loved symphony ever written, this performance of the Fifth has everything: passion, precision, drama, lyric beauty, and a coiled fury in the first movement that sets your pulse racing from the very...

No prescription needed -- now
After a horrendously exhausting day, I listened tonight to this recording, and found myself applauding at the end -- and then astonished that there was also applause on the CD! I had not realized it was a live recording. In the meantime, this care-giver, this senior citizen, this ex-violinist, this ex-pianist, this me, had 55.13 minutes of sheer joy. Thank you Mssrs. Beethoven, Perlman, Ma and Barenboim.

A vigorous Triple Concerto knocking at the door of the greats
In 1969, when Richter, Oistrakh, and Rostropovich made their only commercial recording together, it was of Beethoven's Triple Cncerto, and the results became legendary for power, eloquence, and drama. As with Carlos Kleiber's Bethoven Fifth, it became hard to hear new recoridngs without keeping this great one in the back of your mind. Since Barenboim is conducting the same Berlin Phil. on the same EMI label, the comparison is inevitable. Thirty some years on, the orchestra doesn't have the richness and depth of Karajan's BPO, but it still sounds very good, and Barenboim does a credible job of conducitng from the keyboard. The three soloists are also top-notch in eery movement. Yo-Yo Ma prefers a slender, elegant tone in this work compared to the tremendous Rostropovich, and Perlman doesn't attack with the total authority of Oistrakh. Barneboim, however, has a heroic view of the piano part, as did Richter, and he's the engine that keeps this performance going. Despite a cool opening, and a disappointing entrance by Ma, who doesn't sail into the main theme with enough passion, the performance builds as it goes along. By the middle of the first movement we get real thrills--ideally, the three soloists should be pushing each other out of the way to get our attention. Here they don't quite, but Barenboim keeps up the intensity nicely. Some listeners may see the Triple Concerto in unheroic terms, in which case there are readings led by Fricsay on DG and the Argerich-Capucon-Maisky live performance on EMI. Barenboim's(also live) is larger in scale, although I regret that the slow movement isn't quite ardent enough. Because the cello introduces all three movements, Ma's low-key playing sets the tone. He starts the finale off on tip-toe, but once again Barenboim manages to bring us back into Beethoven's world. All in all, this new performance knocks on the door of the great one. The filler is the Choral Fantasy, which Barenboim recorded as a young man with the aging Otto Klmeperer. His new version is unique, so far as I know, in being conducted from the keyboard. As a pianist, Barenboim had a moe exuberant style in the past, but he's a bit more reserved here. The reading overall doesn't touch the galvanic excitement of Serkin/Bernstein on Sony, but with gorgeous orchestral playing, Barenboim's confidence as pianist, and an excellent chorus for the joyful ending, this Choral Fantasy ranks just a notch below the Triple Concerto.

Great
Although the Triple Concerto is not one of Beethoven's most inspired compositions, it is indeed thrilling when played well. Perlman, Ma, and Berenboim certainly give a convincing performance of this work. They collaborate well together, and the energy they create in this piece is electrifying. The Berlin Philharmonic also gives a wonderful accompaniment to the three soloists. This is indeed one of the best Triple Concertos. The companion piece, the all too underappreciated Choral Fantasy, is also wonderfully executed by Barenboim, the philharmonic, and the chorus. I highly recommend this CD.

"The comedy is over......" (Beethoven)
Beethoven amazes me. And so does Perlman. He is my idol and I can not get enough of his playing. This recording is wonderful and the music is fantastic! Only the best will play the best!

Fantastic Performance!
This is one of those cd's where you can almost reach out and touch the music. Every detail is heard, and every detail is placed with care. The clarity of this performance is astounding! The music is well crafted and also full of energy. This is a live recording, so there are occasional audience noices, but none which detract from the performance. If you are searching for a recording of either of these pieces, I highly recommend this one!!