Sunday, August 11, 2013

The Klemperer Legacy: Concertos

More excellent value from EMI in their Klemperer Legacy series. This set contains some old warhorses (Another Schumann Piano Concerto, anyone? Perhaps a Beethoven Violin Concerto?), but the performances are characteristically powerful. For me the highlight is the 1967 recording of Mozart's C major Piano Concerto (K503), with Daniel Barenboim at the keyboard. This was their first encounter – Barenboim was 25 and Klemperer 82. That led quickly into a justly famous complete cycle of Beethoven concertos, also included here. The set is rounded out by Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 (Annie Fischer) and Brahm's Violin Concerto (David Oistrakh), together with a splendid recording of the Mozart's Horn Concertos with Alan Civil as the soloist. Not much new repertoire here - but a good opportunity to enjoy Klemper's powerful and structurally compelling interpretations.