COMPOSERS: Franck,Grieg,Schumann
LABELS: EMI
WORKS: Piano Concerto in A minor
PERFORMER: Walter Gieseking (piano)Philharmonia Orchestra/Herbert von Karajan
CATALOGUE NO: CDM 5 66597 2 ADD mono 1954/52
These recordings were made a few years before Gieseking’s death in 1956 at the height of Karajan’s association with Walter Legge’s Philharmonia Orchestra. Gieseking’s playing in Schumann’s Concerto (overshadowed by the perfection of the 1948 combination with Lipatti) is remarkable for a strikingly slow Intermezzo and full-blooded, if occasionally flawed finale. Franck’s Variations are exquisitely poised, while the Grieg, played with incredible authority and control, is staggeringly beautiful. Christopher Fifield
Schumann, Franck, Grieg
These recordings were made a few years before Gieseking’s death in 1956 at the height of Karajan’s association with Walter Legge’s Philharmonia Orchestra. Gieseking’s playing in Schumann’s Concerto (overshadowed by the perfection of the 1948 combination with Lipatti) is remarkable for a strikingly slow Intermezzo and full-blooded, if occasionally flawed finale. Franck’s Variations are exquisitely poised, while the Grieg, played with incredible authority and control, is staggeringly beautiful. Christopher Fifield
Our rating
5
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:29 pm