# Looking for recommendations on Beethoven Concerto Cycle or individual recordings.



## Fan66

Hi all:

As my post title mentioned, I am looking for either a complete concerto cycle, or, an individual recording of a particular concerto. I am learning toward perhaps... Uchida, Kissin, Goode, Kovacevich, or Brendel. Appreciate your recommendations! Thank you.

Fan66


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## jegreenwood

Don't overlook Fleisher/Szell. It's been my go-to for over 40 years. The only problem is that unlike most of Szell's Epic/Columbia/Sony recordings, which one can find remastered here or there ("there" often meaning Japan), I've never seen remasters of any but the third and fourth concertos.

I need to give the Perahia/Haitink cycle some careful listening. I also have Weissenberg/HvK and Barenboim/Klemperer, both included in larger box sets. I don't find either terribly appealing.


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## Pugg

> Perahia/Haitink cycle some careful listening. I also have Weissenberg/HvK and Barenboim/Klemperer,


Absolutely agree, I would add, Zimmerman/ Bernstein


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## KenOC

I tend to listen to Kovacevich/Davis in 1-4 and Fleisher/Szell in the Emperor, where a touch more grandiosity seems appropriate. But even though I have quite a few sets, I don’t remember hearing any that were less than excellent.


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## Josquin13

These are among my favorite works by Beethoven, so I've collected a ton of recordings (maybe too many) & sets over the decades. If you're open to gradually buying individual recordings of each concerto (& doing a lot of sampling), here are the best recordings I've heard among more traditional performances (I've tried to rank them, but it depends on the day, as they're all exceptional):

Piano Concerto #1--(1) Maurizio Pollini, Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Eugen Jochum, (2) Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Carla Maria Giulini, (3) Sviatoslav Richter, Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Charles Munch, (4) Alfred Brendel, London Philharmonic, conducted by Bernard Haitink (I recently listened to this recording for the first time in many years, and was very impressed by how fine it is: IMO, this is Brendel's Beethoven at its best.) 

Piano Concerto #2--(1) Bruno-Leonardo Gelber, Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Klaus Tennstedt (live), (2) Alfred Brendel, London Philharmonic, conducted by Bernard Haitink, (3) Maria-Joao Pires, London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Bernard Haitink, (4) Maurizio Pollini, Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Eugen Jochum. (This is the concerto that I listen to least, so my recommendations may not be as helpful for this work.)

Piano Concerto #3--(1) Annie Fischer, Bavarian State Orchestra, Ferenc Fricsay--a legendary recording, (2) Sviatoslav Richter, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kurt Sanderling (on DG), (3) Artur Schnabel, Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Issay Dobrowen (historical, on Testament): for Schnabel's incredibly beautiful playing of the slow movement (which must be heard), (4) Claudio Arrau, Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Alceo Galliera (perhaps slightly preferable to Arrau's fine later recording with Haitink), (5--a tie) Rudolf Serkin, New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Carla Maria Giulini.

Piano Concerto #4: (1) Emil Gilels, Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Leopold Ludwig (Testament)--probably my favorite 4th (yet surprisingly, I'm not as crazy about the 5th with Ludwig), (2) Edwin Fischer, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Eugen Jochum: Claudio Arrau once said that Jochum was the only conductor he'd ever worked with in his career that truly understood the 4th Piano Concerto. A live recording with Arrau & Jochum does exist, but I've never heard or seen it. (Btw, Jochum also recorded a 4th with Julius Katchen), (3) Claudio Arrau, Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by Bernard Haitink. (4--a tie) Claudio Arrau, Staatskapelle Dresden, conducted by Sir Colin Davis, and Claudio Arrau, Philharmonia Orchestra, Alceo Galliera.

Piano Concerto #5 "Emperor"--(1) Claudio Arrau, Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, conducted by Bernard Haitink, (2) Edwin Fischer, Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler (historical), (3) Claudio Arrau, Staatskapelle Dresden, conducted by Sir Colin Davis (for Arrau's playing of the slow movement: one of the most beautiful interpretations I've ever heard--only E. Fischer, Gilels & maybe Kempff are in the same league here, IMO), (4) Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Carla Maria Giulini. Emil Gilels was also exceptional in the 5th concerto, but I'm not sure which of his recordings is his best 5th. As unfortunately Szell's rather strait-laced conducting is a big negative for me on the Cleveland set--despite Gilels' fine playing, and I've not heard Gilels' other recordings with Masur, Sanderling, and Wand. (In addition, Bruno-Leonardo Gelber, Wilhelm Kempff, and Rudolf Serkin are all very fine in the 5th too. Though I wish Sviatoslav Richter had recorded the 5th.)

My 8 favorite Beethoven Piano Concerto 1-5 sets (tentatively ranked):

1. Claudio Arrau, Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, conducted by Bernard Haitink.

2. Claudio Arrau, Philharmonia, conducted by Alceo Galliera (Some collectors prefer the Galliera/Arrau set to the Haitink/Arrau set on Philips, but I think the later Philips set has better sound & Arrau was still in his prime, though Galliera's conducting may be preferable to the young Haitink's).

3. Wilhelm Kempff, Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Paul van Kempen (good mono). (If you must have stereo, Kempff's later set with conductor Ferdinand Leitner & the Berlin Philharmonic is good too. But I think Kempff's earlier Beethoven recordings are his best). 

4.Rudolf Serkin, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik (live, Orfeo). These live recordings were made earlier than Serkin's digital set with Ozawa, and are preferable IMO. Kubelik was also a better Beethoven conductor than Ormandy, IMO, who shared the concertos with Bernstein on Serkin's 1st set.

5. Steven Lubin (forte piano), Academy of Ancient Music (period instruments), conducted by Christopher Hogwood. This is easily the finest period instrument recording of these works I've heard. (& I'd recommend taking a pass on the Levin/Gardiner set, which strangely places the forte piano in the midst of the orchestra, which drowns it out in places.) I was tempted to name the Lubin/Hogwood set a first or second choice, that's how good it is. (Among HIP sets on a modern piano, Ronald Brautigam's set, with Andrew Parrott, can be interesting.)

6. Andras Schiff, Staatskapelle Dresden, conducted by Bernard Haitink--arguably the most consistently good digital set on a modern piano (though I prefer Lubin/Hogwood).

7. Claudio Arrau, Staatskapelle Dresden, conducted by Sir Colin Davis. The only reason this set doesn't rank higher is that Arrau's technique wasn't quite as nimble & agile in his later years--although his slow movements are arguably more profound with Davis than on his earlier sets with Galliera & Haitink, especially the 2nd movement of the 5th.

8. Wilhelm Backhaus, Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Hans Schmitt-Isserstedt.

Here are the sets and individual recordings that I've not heard by pianists that I admire in Beethoven: Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli's earlier recordings with Celibidache, etc. (other than the live ones of 1, 3, & 5 with Giulini on DG); Solomon's recordings with Menges, Cluytens, etc.; Annie Fischer's 3rd with Esser; Claudio Arrau's live recordings of 3, 4, & 5 with Otto Klemperer, and Leon Fleisher's set with Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra: Yes, I know it's a favorite among many collectors, but after hearing the way Szell ruined Gilels' PC set in Cleveland, I've never tried the Fleisher/Szell set.


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## Mandryka

Fan66 said:


> Hi all:
> an individual recording of a particular concerto.


I thought these were special

Arthur Schoonderwoerd for PC 1 -- the one with Geza Anda also. 
Gulda/Rossi for PC 3; Gould/Karajan also pretty good. 
Fou Ts'Ong/Sinfonia Varsovia for PC 4, Rubinstein/Mitropoulos is also very good, as is Yudina's recording and Gilels/Ludwig, Moravec/Turnowsky, Hoffman/Ormandy, Afanassiev . . . . . There are lots of interesting recordings of this one.

For a set I would plump for Harnoncourt/Aimard bur Kempff/van Kempen or Lubin/Hogwood are also good. If you're interested in old recordings then you should certainly try Wilhelm Furtwängler/Adrian Aeschbacher in op 15 and Wilhelm Furtwängler/Conrad Hansen in op 58


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## premont

Most of my favorites have already been mentioned above.

For MI complete sets (in casual order):

Kempff / van Kempen
Backhaus / Schmidt -Isserstedt
Arrau / Galliera
Solomon / Menges, Cluytens

Individual concertos:

1: Anda / Galliera

3: Edwin Fischer / Fischer

4: Edwin Fischer / Fischer
Gilels / Ludwig
Arrau /Klemperer

For PI;

Lubin / Hogwood

Concertos 1 and 2 maybe preferable with Levin / Gardiner and van Immerseel / Weil because the fortepiano is better balanced than in the Lubin / Hogwood, and I have a weakness for Levin's improvised cadenzas.


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## Triplets

Lots of good recommendations there.
Fleisher/Szell has been my go to set as well. It’s available in a variety of incarnations. I bought coupled with their Brahms PCs for something like $12. I don’t know when last remastered but they sound up to snuff. The Haitink Perahia would be my second choice. The Brendel/Levine set is good (if you like Brendel and haven’t banned Levine from your CD player.).Azhkenazy and Solti are an oldie but goodie.


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## bharbeke

Here's a couple individual performances that I found stellar.

3: Barenboim, Staatskapelle Berlin
4: Arrau, Haitink, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra


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## Josquin13

Please note that I have corrected my post above. I mistakenly wrote that the Arrau/Haitink set was with the London Philharmonic, when it was with the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam. (I knew that.)


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## realdealblues

Fan66 said:


> Hi all:
> 
> As my post title mentioned, I am looking for either a complete concerto cycle, or, an individual recording of a particular concerto. I am learning toward perhaps... Uchida, Kissin, Goode, Kovacevich, or Brendel. Appreciate your recommendations! Thank you.
> Fan66


From the ones you mentioned I would pick Uchida/Sanderling, but Fleisher/Szell is still the tops in my book. Bronfman/Zinman is also excellent for a modern recording. Rubinstein/Leinsdorf is a personal favorite. Barenboim's newest release with the Staatskapelle Berlin was a surprise to me and was very enjoyable. Lots of good ones out there but I would never want to be without Fleisher/Szell.


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## wkasimer

Schiff/Haitink/Dresden would be my first choice for a big band, modern instrument recording. I'm not a big fan of Brendel, but his set with Levine is also excellent.

Kovacevich's set with Davis is fine,although I find the conducting insufficiently assertive. I like Kovacevich's later recordings, with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, with SK conducting from the keyboard, much more, but they're probably OOP and hard to find, although this seems to be reasonably available on the used CD market:









For HIP, Levin/Gardiner and Lubin/Hogwood are fine, but if you want HIP, you might as well go "whole hog" and go with Schoonderwoerd/Cristofori:









I'm surprised that this is already OOP and so expensive on Amazon; try MDT, who seem to be selling the set for less than US$20.


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## Merl

There's lots I like a lot but i always recommend....

Fleisher / Szell
Barenboim / Klemperer
Perahia/ Haitink
Lewis / Belohlavek
Kovacevich / Davis


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## Judith

Have a lovely box set of Beethoven Concertos
Leif Ove Andsnes
Mahler Chamber Orchestra


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## jegreenwood

OK - this thread has inspired me. As I mentioned the Fleisher/Szell has been my go-to set for over 40 years. And it's a set I went to a lot on LP. When CDs were introduced I bought the first cycle I found: Serkin/Ozawa on Telarc. With Serkin playing, I had high hopes . . .but no. However I listened to it for several years as it was the only CD set I had. (This was back in the days when CDs were expensive and my compensation was not so great.) Perhaps that was what caused my interest in the music to wane. (Also I was finding lots of new music.) I did pick up the Fleisher/Szell set when it became available on CD, but didn't look any further.

Over the past decade I have acquired a number of cycles as parts of large boxes. I mentioned Barenboim/Klemperer, Weissenberg/HvK, and Perahia/Haitink, but I forgot about the three cycles Rubinstein recorded with Krips, Leinsdorf, and Barenboim respectively - all in the big Rubinstein box (together with some early individual recordings). I listened to the first concerto conducted by Barenboim and the first movement of the Krips first (before I was interrupted). The Barenboim did nothing for me, but the Krips was exciting. So I will continue with this project over the next several weeks sampling all of the sets, even the ones I didn't find appealing previously. Based on this thread, I look forward in particular to Perahia and Rubinstein/Leinsdorf. And I hope the rest of the Krips set is as good as the movement I heard.


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## Merl

realdealblues said:


> Bronfman/Zinman is also excellent for a modern recording. Rubinstein/Leinsdorf is a personal favorite.


Great shout Realdealblues. Another pair of excellent recordings.


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## realdealblues

jegreenwood said:


> I forgot about the three cycles Rubinstein recorded with Krips, Leinsdorf, and Barenboim respectively - all in the big Rubinstein box (together with some early individual recordings). I listened to the first concerto conducted by Barenboim and the first movement of the Krips first (before I was interrupted). The Barenboim did nothing for me, but the Krips was exciting. So I will continue with this project over the next several weeks sampling all of the sets, even the ones I didn't find appealing previously. Based on this thread, I look forward in particular to Perahia and Rubinstein/Leinsdorf. And I hope the rest of the Krips set is as good as the movement I heard.


Agreed, the Barenboim/Rubinstein is just sluggish and Arthur was well past his prime. It's interesting to hear for Rubinstein fans but there's no real magic there. Krips/Rubinstein is very good and very enjoyable and well worth repeated listens, but Leinsdorf with the added magic of the Boston Symphony Orchestra just adds that something special to really make the whole thing shine and in better sound than the Krips recordings. I hope you enjoy your time with them.

I think Rubinstein/Leinsdorf and Fleisher/Szell are probably my two favorites. I still love to hear Perahia for his lyrical beauty, Serkin's 60's cycle with Ormandy & Bernstein for his nervous tension, Ashkenazy/Solti for their muscular bravado, Gould for being Gould, and a few other one off's like Gilel's "Emperor" with Leopold Ludwig with the Philharmonia Orchestra or Richter with Munch for the first concerto, but Fleisher/Szell and Rubinstein/Leinsdorf satisfy me greatly for hearing two very different approaches.


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## DarkAngel

*I agree with all the praise for Fleisher/Szell set*, another excellent set for me not mentioned yet is Pollini/Abbado, Abbado does better here than his symphony sets work and has great dynamic chemistry with Pollini......(lets throw in the Bohm emperor as a bonus)

















As a supplement to Fleisher/Szell set there is a recent Gilels set now that is very nearly as good










For smaller scale orchestra with very good modern sound recent Andsnes is very nice.....
Someone earlier mentioned the Kovacevich with Australian Chamber Orch, excellent also


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## premont

DarkAngel said:


> *
> 
> As a supplement to Fleisher/Szell set there is a recent Gilels set now that is very nearly as good
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *


*

They are different but both worthwhile. But the Gilels set recent?? Szell died in 1970.*


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## Holden4th

Of the sets I own, two stand out for me and both have been mentioned before. The Rubinstein/Leinsdorf is stellar and well worth acquiring. Whether this is possible outside of one of the big Rubinstein box sets I don’t know.

The Perahia/Haitink has a freshness and energy about it that makes it the go to set in my vehicle.

At home I listen to individual performances.

1 Perahia/Haitink
2 Serkin/Ormandy
3 Solomon/Menges
4 Gilles/Ludwig
5 Fleisher/Szell

Please note that I have chosen stereo recordings only. If we get into the historical realm then it’s a different story as we consider Kapell, Schnabel, Backhaus, early Serkin, early Kempff, etc.


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## DarkAngel

premont said:


> They are different but both worthwhile. *But the Gilels set recent??* Szell died in 1970.


*Recently released* on warner label for reduced price.......


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## Star

Although not a central recommendation do try the set by Glenn Gould which has some remarkable playing.

I'd also recommend the Ashkenazy / Solti combination


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## Brahmsianhorn

Maybe I misread the thread, but aren't we talking about all concertos, not just piano?

My choices, in order:

Piano concertos #1 & 2: Schnabel/Sargent, Solomon/Menges, Kempff/Leitner

Piano concerto #3: Schnabel/Sargent, Solomon/Boult, A. Fischer/Fricsay, E. Fischer, Perahia/Haitink

Piano concerto #4: Schnabel/Sargent, Gilels/Ludwig, Solomon/Cluytens, E. Fischer, Curzon/Knappertsbusch 

Piano concerto #5: Schnabel/Sargent, Fischer/Furtwangler, Solomon/Menges, Gieseking/Rother, Gilels/Szell, Fleisher/Szell

Violin concerto: Kreisler/Blech, Huberman/Szell, Busch/Busch, Heifetz/Toscanini, Menuhin/Furtwangler, Perlman/Giulini

Triple concerto: Odnoposoff/Auber/Morales/Weingartner, Oistrakh/Rostropovich/Richter/Karajan


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## jegreenwood

Brahmsianhorn said:


> Maybe I misread the thread, but aren't we talking about all concertos, not just piano?
> 
> My choices, in order:
> 
> Piano concertos #1 & 2: Schnabel/Sargent, Solomon/Menges, Kempff/Leitner
> 
> Piano concerto #3: Schnabel/Sargent, Solomon/Boult, A. Fischer/Fricsay, E. Fischer, Perahia/Haitink
> 
> Piano concerto #4: Schnabel/Sargent, Gilels/Ludwig, Solomon/Cluytens, E. Fischer, Curzon/Knappertsbusch
> 
> Piano concerto #5: Schnabel/Sargent, Fischer/Furtwangler, Solomon/Menges, Gieseking/Rother, Gilels/Szell, Fleisher/Szell
> 
> Violin concerto: Kreisler/Blech, Huberman/Szell, Busch/Busch, Heifetz/Toscanini, Menuhin/Furtwangler, Perlman/Giulini
> 
> Triple concerto: Odnoposoff/Auber/Morales/Weingartner, Oistrakh/Rostropovich/Richter/Karajan


I assumed it was just piano because the OP listed pianists only. Love Perlman/Giulini though.


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