Beethoven Concerto Op.61a, Piano version, Boris Berezovsky

"...Beethoven concerto playing today doesn’t get any better than this." (Michael Greenhalgh "MusicWeb International") 00:00 I. Allegro, ma non troppo 20:47 II. Larghetto 30:25 III. Rondo Boris Berezovsky, Piano, Swedish Chamber Orchestra; Thomas Dausgaard Recorded May-June 2001 Released - 2005 "Berezovsky’s performance of the composer’s own piano transcription of his Violin Concerto transforms the piece from an awkward stepchild into a wonderfully imaginative fantasy ...It’s a provocative conception... is so startling that you may well think you are hearing the music for the first time. And of course, you get Beethoven’s great cadenzas, which he wrote for the piano version, with the timpani hammering away as if the Concerto had been written for it as well....Dausgaard continues to make his orchestral cycle something to treasure." (Laurence Vittes, Audiophile Audition) "...It&to Berezovsky&credit that he plays the music with total conviction, and in such a way that it sounds credible as piano music. The first movement, for example, moves forward swiftly (just 20 minutes), a tempo justified by the presence of a less naturally lyrical but more powerful solo instrument. In the Larghetto and finale, with their simpler forms, this dialectical issue matters less, but Berezovksy&poetic account of the former, and joyous romp through the latter, makes this easily the finest performance of the work (in this version) currently available. Ideally balanced, glowing sonics...