Search - Wilhelm Kempff :: Complete 1950's Concerto Recordings

Great Beethoven, Redundant Release

Jeffrey Lipscomb | Sacramento, CA United States | 04/10/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"By far the most attractive items in this 5-disc set are the classic Beethoven concerto readings that Kempff recorded in the 1950's with Kempen and the Berlin Philharmonic. In my estimation, they comprise one of the two most completely satisfying integrales of these eternally-fresh works ever committed to disc (along with the worthy Schnabel/Sargent 1930's readings in lesser sound on Naxos & other labels).



While it's nice to re-visit Kempff's Mozart #9 and #15 with Munchinger, neither is really a match for Haskil/Ackermann (in #9 on M&A) or Solomon/Ackermann (in their #15 on Testament). Ackermann gives his soloists more supportive and better-played accompaniments than Munchinger's for Kempff. I never found Kempff to be a particularly illuminating Schumann player, and this Piano Concerto is pretty much an also-ran in a field that contains such superb accounts as Moiseiwitsch/Ackermann (Testament), Lipatti/Ansermet (Decca), Gieseking/Furtwangler (DG), and Gulda/Andreae (Decca). Unfortunately, the Brahms 1st Piano Concerto was well beyond Kempff's fingers by the 1950's, and Konwitschny is a rather prosaic partner (just compare this with Rubinstein/Reiner to hear what's lacking here). And, while perfectly satisfactory, Kempff's renditions of the Liszt concertos simply pale beside Sviatoslav Richter's (Philips).



The Beethoven concertos constitute the real draw here. But this is yet another example of how the classical CD collector today is faced with a flood of needlessly duplicated performances. These Beethoven concertos are ALREADY available as a 3-disc DG set (#435744), coupled with Kempff's really superb renditions of the lovely Op. 51 Rondos, which are sadly EXCLUDED here. Thus you can't simply buy this set and toss the earlier one without sacrificing some of Kempff's finest music-making. The corporate committee that came up with this dumb marketing idea needs to have its collective heads examined. Such muddled thinking reminds me of the old saying that the camel was a horse designed by a committee.



Magnificent Beethoven, but otherwise a rather mis-managed re-issue.



"

The magical Kempff at his best

Mr. Scott L. Leather | Tucson, AZ United States | 01/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I was young I was impatient with Mr. Kempff. I had his complete stereo version of the Beethoven piano concertos and sonatas on LP and I thought he was too limpid in my youth. I have since come to reappraise his artistry from a more mature perspective and even though he is not a heaven storming virtuoso, he more than makes up for it with the logic of his musicianship and the translucent sonority he gets from the instrument.



His early mono traversal of all 5 Beethoven Piano Concertos is included here and what a revelation it is! Wonderful performances. I have, as yet, to listen to his later stereo version to compare but I was bowled over by these interpretations. Full of passion and fire and complete with his own inventive (yet stylistically intact) cadenzas. This set is a joy.



The other concertos also display Kempff's seeming inexorable logic when it comes to elucidating the structure, both emotionally and architecturally, of the works. The Brahms is one of the most interesting interpretations I've ever heard, full of sturm and drang and also on the deliberate side when it comes to tempi (especially the coda in the last movement which is strangely satisfactory).



I am currently listening to the Schumann which is very poetic and I have as yet to listen to the 2 Liszt Concerti, but I'm sure they'll be fascinating."

How could you not give it 5 stars

J. Grant | North Carolina, USA | 01/24/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I didn't think I would ever hear as fine a set of the 5 Beethoven concertos as Fleisher/Szell or Kovacevich/Davis, but then I heard these magnificent performances (not better than Fleisher or Kovacevich, but equal to). As if that wasn't enough, you get 2 very good Mozart concertos, both of Liszt's (though not in the same league as Richter's) and a better than average Schumann. The only clunker of the lot is the Brahms. My favorite here is Curzon/Szell along with stellar performances by Serkin/Szell, Gilels/Jochum, Fleisher/Szell, Arrau/Haitink and Katchen/Monteux. Mr. Lipscomb stated that the Beethoven was already available, but that 3 disc set costs quite a bit more than these 5 discs, even through re-sellers. While I admire all of the alternative Schumann concertos he mentioned, most of them are unavailable or very hard to find. My personal favorites that are readily available are the Rubinstein/Leinsdorf, Kovacevich/Davis, Argerich/Harnoncourt, Fleisher/Szell and Michelangeli. My 5 stars are for the Beethoven. The rest I would give 4 stars (except the Brahms)."