Ah, Beethoven's Emperor again, this is a great set of his Piano Concertos, i actually have 10 sets of these Concertos, each housed in these 1 inch 'fatbox' cases, and this is one of my favourite, it may seem to some that ten sets is just multiplying stuff i've already got, but each set is subtly different, a different insight and interpretation, if you really love the music, you will want to hear what others have to say as well, i wrote about this very performance in the first year of my Blog [4th August 2010], and this work now appears 13 times in my Blog, and almost without exception, when i listen to all the works in these box sets, it's almost always the Fifth that i come away having the best experience with, it's a wonderful creation that remains my most cherished Piano Concerto.
Mitsuko Uchida was born in Japan, though now she's British, she's now 63, she recorded this work in 1998, the photos for the set are excellent [by Maarten Corbijn], on the front cover it's a monotone shot [brown & cream], a duo pic of Uchida & Sanderling, nicely caught, the lettering [also in brown, with cream background], are nicely done, i like the visuals for this set, it really adds a touch of professionalism to the whole thing.
Of all the movements, it was the slow middle movement that moved me the most,.
Here's on Uchida playing an excerpt of the slow movement on YouTube, this time with Simon Rattle conducting the Berlin Philharmonic.
Here's on Uchida playing an excerpt of the slow movement on YouTube, this time with Simon Rattle conducting the Berlin Philharmonic.
