# ...Beethoven Piano Concertos - Where to Start?



## ethan417 (Jun 10, 2020)

I'm very familiar with many styles of music - but classical, not so much.
For many years, I had season tickets to the Boston Symphony Orchestra. During my parenting years, I no had the time or resources to enjoy that luxury.

But now, I'm an empty nester.
I attended 6 concerts this past season - wonderful.

My interests once again turn to classical music.

I want to explore the Beethoven Concertos.
I have no idea where to start.
Long ago, I saw Rudolph Serkin perform the 5th with Ozawa and the BSO. That particular concert was issued on CD.

Thoughts? Recommendations?

Many thanks


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

There is no right way to start. You only get to know what you prefer by listening to the different options. To me the starting points were recordings by Backhaus, Kempff, Arrau, Brendel and Gilels, and they are still the ones I prefer in this repertoire.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Try this for starters. Amazing performance!


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Mitsuko Uchida with Kurt Sanderling and the Royal Concertgebouw and Bavarian Radio Symphony is a set worth exploring. The Glenn Gould Sony set is surprisingly great. I've heard good things about Pierre-Laurent Aimard with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, though I've not heard any of it. There are many many recordings out there as you all well know. As far as individual recordings, I'd like to echo David's suggestion of the Richter/Sanderling/Vienna SO recording of No.3, it's really good.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Why not start with the best?


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

I think most people likely started with the 5th: it is a great concerto. Dramatic, lyrical - great stuff. My first record was one of the greats: Fleisher/Szell. But I didn't move on to the other piano concertos, but on to the violin concerto. Heifetz/Munch which is still my standard.

After some time I turned to the rest of Beethoven's concertos - again Fleisher/Szell. My favorites then are 5, 4, 3, 1, 2. I really don't listen to 1 & 2 at all anymore. I do like the piano version of the violin concerto. I loathe the triple concerto. Can't stand it.


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## Simplicissimus (Feb 3, 2020)

My suggestion is to go through all five concerti, one or two a day, for a couple of weeks until they are all familiar. Favorites will emerge. I’ve done this a couple of times a year for many years because I value these five pieces highly. I won’t presume to put forward a “best” set, but I will say that my base and most prized set are the 1956 RCA Living Stereo recordings of Arthur Rubinstein playing with the Symphony of the Air under Joseph Krips.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

A great set to learn these concerti through IMO is Uchida/Sanderling. Dramatic, lyrical, and irresistably enthusiastic. Rubinstein and Barenboim also played these well. Then when you know the music well you will need to hear a couple outstanding historical recordings - Gilels/Ludwig on No. 4 and Fischer/Furtwangler on No. 5.


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## Marc (Jun 15, 2007)

ethan417 said:


> I'm very familiar with many styles of music - but classical, not so much.
> For many years, I had season tickets to the Boston Symphony Orchestra. During my parenting years, I no had the time or resources to enjoy that luxury.
> 
> But now, I'm an empty nester.
> ...


I'm gonna throw in something… different. 

Start with Mozart's concertos in D minor (KV 466), C minor (KV 491) and B-flat major (KV 595).
Beethoven was very much inspired by Mozart's concertos.

Then go for Beethoven's no.3 in C minor, op. 37... it shows a lot of this inspiration, and it's an awesome piece in itself.

My first take on Beethoven's piano concertos were the ones performed by Wilhelm Kempff and the Berliner Philharmoniker with Ferdinand Leitner. I still rate them very high.
If you are able to 'stand' YouTube quality, then this performance is very worthwhile too (imho): 86-year old Artur Rubinstein with 43-year old Bernard Haitink & the Concertgebouw Orkest, which was televised in the Netherlands in 1973.











Whatever choices you make... have fun!


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Allegro Con Brio said:


> A great set to learn these concerti through IMO is Uchida/Sanderling. Dramatic, lyrical, and irresistably enthusiastic. Rubinstein and Barenboim also played these well. Then when you know the music well you will need to hear a couple outstanding historical recordings - Gilels/Ludwig on No. 4 and Fischer/Furtwangler on No. 5.


Good to see more love for Uchida/Sanderling, I wonder why I don't hear about it more.

@mbhaub, what's wrong with No.1 & No.2? I don't listen to them much either, but I'm curious.


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## Arrau1233 (Jun 12, 2020)

I have the Arrau/ Colin Davis.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

I will second (third?) the Fleischer/Szell set as a good basic reference. Their No. 1 is absolutely tops and offers a good entry. Then go on to Nos. 4 and 5, which are diametrically opposed (No. 5 more heroic and No. 4 introverted, thoughtful and poetic, and just as good). Then get to 2 and 3 whenever you do.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

No 3 and 5 with Van Cliburn, unbeaten , Rudolph Serkin /Murray Perahia. /Leif Ove Andsnes /Wilhelm Backhaus and the new kid on the block: 
Jan Lisiecki (piano)


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

MarkW said:


> I will second (third?) the Fleischer/Szell set as a good basic reference. Their No. 1 is absolutely tops and offers a good entry. Then go on to Nos. 4 and 5, which are diametrically opposed (No. 5 more heroic and No. 4 introverted, thoughtful and poetic, and just as good). Then get to 2 and 3 whenever you do.


I second (fourth?) this too. Overall, if you're looking to get all five concertos in one go, Fleisher/Szell or the Kempff/Leitner set also mentioned above are both excellent choices.


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## BlackAdderLXX (Apr 18, 2020)

Hey there. One thing that has helped me out enormously since I joined up a few months back is some of the more well known works like this one have usually had a "Top Ten" list made after polling and voting. The search feature here on this forum is not very helpful sometimes, but if you click on ADVANCED SEARCH and type in the composer name and then search for the user Trout (who uploaded all the 'official' top 10 lists) they will show up. Here below are the results for Beethoven Piano Concertos #5 and #4. Hope this helps you out.

*#5*
https://www.talkclassical.com/blogs/trout/2082-rr-79-beethoven-piano.html

*#4*
https://www.talkclassical.com/blogs/trout/2099-rr-91-beethoven-piano.html


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

ethan417 said:


> Thoughts? Recommendations?


My usual suggestion - listen via a streaming service and/or YouTube to a variety of different performers, and find the one(s) that appeal to you. There's no shortage of excellent recordings. My personal suggestions would be Schiff/Haitink and Brendel/Levine, but the one I play most often is Schoonderwoerd's, which doesn't appeal to all tastes.

For a first set, I would avoid monaural recordings, which would rule out Itulian's recommendation of Kempff/van Kempen. Kempff has a later recording with Leitner. Frankly, I'm not a fan of either recording.


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## Kiki (Aug 15, 2018)

wkasimer said:


> ... the one I play most often is Schoonderwoerd's, which doesn't appeal to all tastes.


I love this set! The extra small ensemble certainly sounds unusual, even among period instrument recordings, but it sounds so refreshing. One thing puzzles me though. I swear I heard the pianoforte in the long orchestral exposition in No. 3...


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Kiki said:


> I love this set! The extra small ensemble certainly sounds unusual, even among period instrument recordings, but it sounds so refreshing. One thing puzzles me though. I swear I heard the pianoforte in the long orchestral exposition in No. 3...


It's definitely there. No real surprise - Schoonderwoerd is presumably conducting from the keyboard, and couldn't resist.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Don't forget Solomon! And Aimard with Harnoncourt is also deeply satisfying.


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Enthusiast said:


> Don't forget Solomon! And Aimard with Harnoncourt is also deeply satisfying.


Thanks, you are very right.


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## Marc (Jun 15, 2007)

wkasimer said:


> My usual suggestion - listen via a streaming service and/or YouTube to a variety of different performers, and find the one(s) that appeal to you. There's no shortage of excellent recordings. My personal suggestions would be Schiff/Haitink and Brendel/Levine, but the one I play most often is Schoonderwoerd's, which doesn't appeal to all tastes.
> 
> For a first set, I would avoid monaural recordings, which would rule out Itulian's recommendation of Kempff/van Kempen. Kempff has a later recording with Leitner. Frankly, I'm not a fan of either recording.


Even though I do like Kempff/Leitner very much, I agree that Schoonderwoerd & his ensemble Christofori offer a very interesting and playful chamber music approach.

Here is what connaisseur  David Hurwitz thinks of the Schoonderwoerd set:


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## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

Basic recommendations:


























Historical supplements:


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