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| Beethoven: Piano Concertos 2 & 4 - Barry Douglas, piano and conducting Camerata Ireland - Satirino Records (album cover) |
St. Paul, Minn. — Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is a great way to ring in the New Year. The Japanese were the first to develop that custom and it's since become a tradition in this country, too. With that in mind, why not start 2006 with a new recording of Beethoven piano concertos?
In 1999, Barry Douglas united a group of outstanding musicians from both the northern and the southern regions of Ireland to form the chamber orchestra Camerata Ireland. Douglas has maintained a strong relationship with this ensemble since its inception and this recording demonstrates how well they work together.
This is the first in a projected cycle of Beethoven piano concerto recordings.
Barry Douglas is conducting, and he's also the piano soloist. Listening to his elegant phrasing in the first movement of Beethoven's second concerto, you can clearly tell that he truly enjoys making music. It sounds so effortless and spontaneous.
The adagio is soft and lovely, with bold strokes from the orchestra, and sparkling trills and smooth, rolling notes from the piano. Close your eyes and you'll be sitting by a babbling brook on a warm spring day as this music washes over you. The adagio allows you a few moments of respite, and the final movement is like a jolt of caffeine, energizing you with its percussive introduction and the playful interaction between the soloist and the orchestra.
As Beethoven grew older he also became more imaginative. He wrote his fourth piano concerto when he was 35, and it took the audience by surprise at its premiere two years later in 1807. They were used to hearing a lengthy orchestral opening which set the stage for the soloist. In this concerto Beethoven has the soloist begin alone in a quiet moment of solitude.
Beethoven was most at home in nature and this concerto does have its pastoral moments. It must have planted a seed, because one year later he wrote his "Pastoral" Symphony No. 6. That symphony starts in much the same way, with a few moments of reflection before the lush orchestration rolls in to sweep you up in the journey the pilgrims make to the new land.
Beethoven's fourth piano concerto doesn't linger on that idyllic idea. Instead, the orchestra makes a roaring statement to keep your attention as the piano prepares its return with a cascade of flowing notes.
Barry Douglas plays a gorgeous Hamburg Steinway and it's recorded with amazing fidelity. The notes flow effortlessly from his fingertips. As he runs up and down the keyboard, Douglas generates a current of sound that's electrifying.
Most critics describe this concerto as poetic. It is incredibly graceful, yet very powerful. I've found myself completely mesmerized while listening to this performance with Barry Douglas and Camerata Ireland. I popped it in my CD player at work, in the car, and then I took it home and announced to my family, "Listen to this...isn't it amazing!"
Who knows, this could become a definitive recording of these two Beethoven concertos, much like Leon Fleisher's recording of the 1960s with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra.
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