Beethoven: Piano Concerto 4

 

I love Hélène Grimaud in Beethoven. She is strong and passionate, although I would love to hear a whole set of concertos from her. Yet, that is another aspect I enjoy about the pianist; she doesn't seem overly interested in a recorded legacy. 

This particular recording's liner notes actually touches upon Grimaud's love of wolves, a passion outside of music which I find commendable.

A review from 2020

Beethoven’s follow up to his first mature, minor-keyed Piano Concerto #3, is the more lyrically laden Concerto No. 4 in G major, a particularly optimistic key, but here set firmly in Beethoven’s familiar sound world, one that turns on a dime from lyrically yearning to blustery moodiness. This is given more salience with Hélène Grimaud’s aggressively virtuosic performance, here backed by Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic from 1999.

Her favoured of the Beethoven Concertos, Grimaud bursts through the 4th Concerto’s big moments with an intense aggressiveness balanced with opposing poetic lyricism and uninhibited forward momentum. While one reviewer is appalled by the highlight to Grimaud’s diametric shifts, it is all there in the music, but Grimaud seems to launch herself into these differences wholeheartedly, rather than subtle shifts of dynamics and accents, but instead giving the listener an exhausting musical experience in the 1st movement alone. Grimaud’s technique here is unquestionable and her commitment is arresting. I am less wowed by Beethoven’s modernist 2nd movement, although Masur does get NY to dig into the orchestral stabs opposite the piano’s lyrical calmness; one wonders how audiences of the time reacted to this music as it still sounds quite modern to my ears today. Beethoven’s piano concertos all ended with a rondo 3rd movement, and I must admit the 4th Concerto’s rondo is my least favourite; the main melody that comes back just doesn’t do much for me, although once they get going, Grimaud really barrels through the opening tutti and then really pulls back the lyrical moments.

The orchestral balance on Teldec’s recording is really very good, the piano perhaps placed quite forward for Grimaud’s aggressiveness, but the orchestra is in good balance overall. Some have mentioned Masur’s square orchestral leading here, but I find him more along for the ride. Take the ending Rondo, where the New York Philharmonic really digs into the proceedings. Masur is right there with Grimaud when she leaps into the music, and NY seems to be on board with Grimaud throughout, the wind moments pleasantly coming forward in the sound. Overall, I would say the orchestral work is above-average and Masur doesn’t sound too staid at all. As to Grimaud, she is well heard, if not a bit too forward, with close enough miking to hear inhalations with the music and the odd floor creak; nothing too distracting for me though.

The two late Piano Sonatas, 30 & 31, are done well here, although I will be the first to admit that solo piano music is not my preference, so I will let the reviewers on Amazon speak to them. I will say, that Hélène Grimaud is well known for her interventionist interpretations, of which, the 4th Piano Concerto gets very little of her intrusive rubato, the first two movements stand out for their sudden attacks and dynamic shifts, but the 3rd movement rondo receives the most pulling and pushing in that work. Much like Mikhail Pletnev’s survey of Beethoven on DG and Anne-Sophie Mutter’s violin work, Grimaud is a rubato pianist and an interpretive interventionist, and I think we get more of that in these Beethoven sonatas. Again, she goes for unsubtle shifts of dynamics and accents, particularly as a left-handed pianist the bass can be aggressive, but I feel more of her rubato in the sonatas, although nothing seems too untoward to me.

As to the disc as a whole, the liner notes are exhaustive with special attention drawn to her life with wolves. I really like her go-for-broke 4th Concerto, one that is energetically charged and fairly unsubtle in her musicianship, but her pianism is dazzlingly invested at all times with stunning virtuosity. NY and Masur invest themselves well enough with Grimaud’s interpretation and is presented in good sound from Teldec. This concerto recording easily sits with my preferred Serkin/Ormandy on CBS Records, although you can find more lyrically poetic stylings elsewhere than Grimaud or Serkin, and Grimaud's performance of Beethoven's 5th Concerto on DG is an excellent companion if you like these vital concerto performances. The two sonatas here are well done, if not exhibiting more of Grimaud’s intrusive touches on music making.

 

 

Works
Piano Concerto 4 in G Major, op. 58 (34.05)
Piano Sonata 30 in E Major, op. 109 (19.56)
Piano Sonata 31 in A-flat Major, op. 110 (18.55)

Soloist
Hélène Grimaud, piano

Performers
New York Philharmonic Orchestra
Kurt Masur, conductor

Total Timing: 73.22
Label: Teldec
Year: 1999

I like a view of Beethoven that is more than simply following the notes and dynamics. Grimaud does just this, without ever going too far or doing too little.

If we only had a little more from her. That said, I wouldn't want to take her from the wolves.

 

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