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Before I begin my actual review, a small caveat. For the reason I'm going to explain below, I'm going to post an identical review in three separate places. Don't waste your time reading this more than once.
These recordings of the Beethoven Piano Concertos, performed by Claudio Arrau and The Concertgebouw Orchestra (they didn't become "Royal" 'til 1988) under the baton of Bernard Haitink, date from 1964. Unfortunately, they are Japan-only and, seemingly, not available as a boxed-set (come ON, Decca!): so, in order to obtain all five concertos, you need to buy three separate CDs (as is usual in such collections, the first disc contains Nos. 1 and 2, the second disc contains Nos. 3 and 4, and the third disc contains The Emperor and, in this case, Arrau's 1965 performance of Piano Sonata No. 17 (op 31/2, "Tempest"): not a bad "filler"!) which may or may not be available from the same supplier. Unless you're able to read Japanese, there are no liner notes, either.
That's the boring, technical details out of the way, and I've reported them merely to, hopefully, inform a prospective purchaser of what's required to obtain all five. Because, if you're an aficionado of Beethoven's Piano Concertos, you're going to want all of them. No, I'll go further: you NEED all of them. These recordings are sublime perfection: possibly the best I've ever heard. The first movement of The Emperor is, in all its sweeping grandeur, THE finest recording I've ever heard: listening to it and then trying to report the experience in a review makes me realise how inadequate words, sometimes, are. The very finest music connects with our entire being - intellectually, emotionally and spiritually - in a way that far, far better writers than I have struggled to communicate. You need to hear it for yourself and allow yourself to be taken to a place where words are meaningless.
In an earlier review of mine, I recommended the live performances of these concertos by Maurizio Pollini with The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Claudio Abbado.
Beethoven: The Piano Concertos; Concerto for Piano, Violin & Cello op.56
While not wishing to retract or modify one word of that review, I have to say that Pollini and Arrau are as chalk and cheese. In the broadest possible terms, Pollini excels in the Rondo Allegro finales - in particular, the Rondo Vivace of Concerto No. 4, playing them with a zest and brio I've not heard equalled (he would often leave the stage drenched in sweat). Arrau is more subtle, playing the slow, inner movements with an intensity and depth of feeling that, again, words can't (or I can't, anyway) describe and, as one would expect from The Concertgebouw under Haitink, the orchestra complements the soloist perfectly.
A brief word about the sound quality. These 1964 recordings were transferred to CD in 2001 and, as I don't read Japanese, I don't know if they've been remastered or not. Don't worry. There is a very slight background "hiss", which you'll notice only if listening through high-end headphones. The sound is, perhaps, a little "thin" but, to my ears anyway, I found that if I increased the bass and reduced the treble (just a touch, in both cases), I was listening to recordings comparable in quality to something far more modern.
Buy these recordings. Just buy them. Buy the Pollini ones too. And sit and marvel. These are performances of historical importance and unquestioned genius. Unlimited stars.
