Columbia SAX 2403: Hans Richter-Haaser plays Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Rondo in G Op. 51 No. 2
Hans Richter-Haaser, piano
Istvan Kertesz, conductor
Philharmonia OrchestraPressing: UK, ED1, blue/silver
Condition: NM
Date first published: 1961
Stampers:
YAX 625-5
YAX 626-5
Performance: 9/10Sound: 7/10
Price range: $28-184 (mean $57) on popsike.com
Comments: In the 1960s, German pianist Hans Richter-Haaser made several recordings for EMI/Columbia, including recordings of Beethoven's third, fourth, and fifth piano concertos, a subset of Beethoven's piano sonatas and the Diabelli Variations, two Mozart piano concertos, and Brahms' second piano concerto. I was first drawn to his art when I purchased an EMI France 5 CD boxed set of his EMI Beethoven recordings, and I was motivated to seek out his recordings on vinyl. This is one of the two that I eventually acquired (the second being the Emperor Piano Concerto, which will also be reviewed). I like Richter-Haaser's Beethoven. It's at times muscular, other times sensitive and lyrical, and always engaging. The SAX recording captures Richter-Haaser and the Philharmonia Orchestra in a more laid-back presentation. The hall acoustics are best appreciated when listening to the piano, but on the whole, the entire recorded sound lacks a sense of naturalness. The sound of the piano is the best aspect of the recording. The orchestra, particularly the strings, sounds a bit shrill and lacks clarity, bringing down the overall sound quality. There's little to complain about regarding the performance on this disc, which is excellent and worth the exploration.
I love a good piano concerto so sorry to hear this one is poor. Classics for Pleasure CFP 155 is a reissue of this and I'd snag one on the cheap given the performance. The quadophile has the London FFSS Blue Back of this with Backhaus and it is very nice on his system where his current high performance preamp with a FET at the front really nails the attack of the piano. I'm probably going to ask him to bring that by some time.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say that it is poor, just not great. I wouldn't be surprised if the CFP was a big improvement over the original. I once owned the Backhaus London blueback and remember it sounding pretty nice but I apparently not nice enough to keep it.
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