The present release contains the audio soundtracks of Daniel Barenboim’s May 2007 Klavier-Festival Ruhr Beethoven Concerto cycle with the Staatskapelle Berlin, conducted from the piano, which was previously released on home video by Euroarts. It comprises Barenboim’s third and finest commercial traversal of the concertos (fourth if you count him conducting Arthur Rubinstein’s 1976 RCA versions).
The performances far surpass Barenboim’s ponderous, pretentious collaborations with Otto Klemperer from the 1960s, and favorably compare alongside his keyboard-led Berlin Philharmonic cycle from the late ’80s. Tempos are brighter and more disciplined than under Klemperer’s watch. The Berlin Philharmonic cycle’s superior pianism and orchestral distinction in terms of balances and first-desk solos apply here as well. Indeed, the First Concerto reveals greater expressive economy and overall precision than in the live 1989 Berlin version on Sony Classical. Perhaps the close-up, dry sonics create a more incisive impression (notwithstanding constricted climaxes), yet comparative listening reveals consistently tighter dovetailing between soloist and orchestra in Ruhr.
Note, for example, the Fourth Concerto Rondo’s cleaner entrances in the rapid piano/orchestra exchanges, the firmer contouring of lines in the “Emperor” Concerto development section’s back-and-forth scales, or the spot-on synchronicity in regard to the orchestra following Barenboim’s subtle tempo modifications in the Third Concerto’s outer movements. As before, Barenboim plays Beethoven’s cadenzas (including the more common Fourth Concerto first-movement option favored by Schnabel, Fleisher, and Arrau), save for his own tasteful and aptly paced first-movement cadenza in the First Concerto.
