Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Piano Concerto No.5 in E flat major Op.73 Emperor (1809) [35:31] ¹
Domenico SCARLATTI (1685-1757)
Sonata in E major K380, L23 [2:49] ¹
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Piano Concerto No.1 In B flat minor Op.23 (1875 rev. 1879 and 1889) [31:33]
²
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Piano Concerto No.4 in G minor Op.58 (1806) [32:05] ²
Walter Gieseking (piano); NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo/Kurt Wöss¹
Emil Gilels (piano); NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo/Wilhelm Loibner ²
rec. 21 March 1953, Tokyo Metropolitan Hibiya Public Hall (Gieseking); 12
October 1957, Kyoritsu Women’s University Auditorium (Gilels)
KING INTERNATIONAL KKC 2001/2 [38:04 + 63:11]
Two internationally celebrated pianists, two middle-ranking small label recording
conductors, and one orchestra form the phalanx of King International’s
twofer. The live performances were taped during March 1953, in the case of
Walter Gieseking, and October 1957 in Emil Gilels’s case.
As usual in such circumstances where the musicians recorded these pieces,
often multiply, in the studio, and where live broadcast material also exists,
it’s difficult to make recommendations, especially when recording quality
is sometimes variable. Nevertheless one can suggest why certain performances
offer qualities beyond those normally encountered, and in that way an informed
decision can be reached as to whether these Tokyo performances should be considered.
Gieseking’s Emperor Concerto was taped in Tokyo’s Metropolitan
Hibiya Public Hall on 21 March 1953. It’s in mono and there is a certain
amount of tape hiss audible. Gieseking starts rather wildly with dropped notes
and a degree of irregularity, but soon settles down aided, one feels, by some
strong downbeats from Kurt Wöss. Thereafter things greatly improve, the
pianist’s rather classicist approach bringing rewards. He has the gift
to spin the slow movement with great refinement. So artful is his phrasing,
so complete his control that it seems quite slow but in truth is not especially
so. Alas, though, for one horrible tape pitch lurch at 4:53. It lasts only
a second but it’s not a happy moment. Gieseking responds to the finale
with vigour but he gets splashy and rather wilful again at around 4:25, but
at least it’s buoyant and committed playing. His encore is the charmingly
played and famous E major Scarlatti sonata. This first disc lasts 38 minutes.
Gilels is on equally tempestuous but more commanding form in his two works,
especially the Tchaikovsky. He’s accompanied by Wilhelm Loibner. This,
too, is in mono and rather withdrawn in quality, possibly because the concert
location was the Kyoritsu Women’s University Auditorium. His performance
is pungently dramatic with superb drama and incendiary octaves a-plenty. The
orchestra doesn’t particularly distinguish itself in glory - the NHK
was not then technically the orchestra it has since become - but Gilels provides
compensation enough. His playing is poetically alluring in the slow movement
and full of potent fire in the finale.
Beethoven’s G major concerto was taped at the same time. The sound here
is a touch dryer and less attractive than the Tchaikovsky, though I can’t
think why that should be if the tape comes from the same source. This is an
eloquent reading, warmly played and sympathetically conducted. Only the finale
is somewhat less than satisfying, with some erratic playing from Gilels here
and there.
Apart from a single page devoted to the history of the orchestra the booklet
is wholly in Japanese. The performances are strong and sometimes flawed, preserved
in sound that is sometimes limited. I liked much of Gieseking’s Emperor
and greatly admired Gilels’s Tchaikovsky, but this is a work with which
he was much associated and I don’t know, in the end, in a busy market-place,
if the electricity generated - and it truly is generated - is sufficient draw.
Jonathan Woolf
Strong and sometimes flawed performances preserved in sound that is sometimes
limited.
Masterwork Index: Beethoven Concerto 4 ~~ Concerto 5 ~~ Tchaikovsky Concerto