 | Beethoven Piano Cto. No. 4 in G Major Op. 58 Beethoven Violin Cto. in D Major Op. 61 Conrad Hansen, piano Erich Röhn, violin Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra - 1943 and 1944 $9 | ||
I must confess that I often have problems with the concerto form due to the concessions that have to be made to showing off the soloist. There is nothing of this here, which makes it my favorite interpretation of this work, perhaps because the soloist is not a virtuoso, but rather the concertmaster of the orchestra. The result is, perhaps, the most symphonic performance of this work on record, imbued with the symphonic vision of none other than Furtw?ngler.
Perhaps there are greater performances of the Piano Concerto from greater pianists. However, this one has Furtwängler conducting at the top of his form and this, in itself, makes this worth having. There is a strange situation with the first chord of the second movement, appearing in all the sources, which sounds completely different from the rest. I have tried, as much as possible, to make it sound compatible with what follows. I do not understand what may have happened.
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