REFERENCE RECORDINGS is proud to present The Complete Beethoven Piano Concertos played by Grammy®-winning Garrick Ohlsson, performing with the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles. This album was recorded during live Festival performances in July 2022.

A student of the late Claudio Arrau, Ohlsson is especially noted for his masterly performances of the works of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, as well as the Romantic repertoire. To date, he is the only American ever to win first prize in the International Chopin Piano Competition. Ohlsson has also been nominated for three Grammy Awards, winning one in 2008 for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without Orchestra) for Beethoven Sonatas, Vol. 3. This new recording represents a pinnacle in his career.

Reference Recordings, founded in 1976 in San Francisco, has won multiple Grammy awards and a catalog that includes numerous American and international orchestras, ensembles and choruses. FRESH! is part of Reference Recordings’ mission to encourage unique and fine artists, and give them a strong platform for promotion and sales nationally and internationally. Reference Recordings are distributed in North America by Naxos USA, and internationally through a network of independent distributors. For more information, visit: ReferenceRecordings.com.

The recording release date is May 12, 2023.

Tracks

DISC 1 (69:28)

PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1 IN C MAJOR, OP. 15 (1795/1800)
flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings, and solo piano

1. I. Allegro con brio
2. II. Largo
3. III. Rondo-Allegro

PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2 IN B-FLAT MAJOR, OP. 19 (1788/1795)
flute, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, strings, and solo piano

4. I. Allegro con brio
5. II. Adagio
6. III. Rondo-Allegro molto

DISC 2 (72:09)

PIANO CONCERTO NO. 3 IN C MINOR, OP. 37 (1800)
2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings, and solo piano

1. I. Allegro con brio
2. II. Largo
3. III. Rondo-Allegro

PIANO CONCERTO NO. 4 IN G MAJOR, OP. 58 (1808)
flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings, and solo piano

4. I. Allegro moderato
5. II. Andante con moto
6. III. Rondo-Vivace

DISC 3 (44:19)

PIANO CONCERTO NO. 5 IN E-FLAT MAJOR “EMPEROR,” OP. 73 (1809)
2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings, and solo piano

1. I. Allegro
2. II. Adagio un poco moto
3. III. Rondo-Allegro, ma non troppo

Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, OP. 43 (1801)

4. Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, OP. 43

Chosen from Gramophone’ The Best Classical Music Albums Of 2023

“Of all pianists before the public today, Ohlsson’s technique is among the most honest. Every note is present and accounted for, nothing ever fudged, all within an exquisitely calculated proportionality. His approach is, above all, lyrical. In fact, listening to the slow movements of these concertos, one would be hard-pressed to name another performance that sings with greater contour, poise and clarity. Harsh or ugly sounds are simply nowhere to be heard, though Ohlsson’s dynamic palette is varied and immense. Trills fairly sparkle and passagework, however exciting, never obtrudes on the critical element of the sonata principle: thematic characterisation and development. That Ohlsson is one of the least exhibitionistic of musicians is evident in the cadenzas, which emerge organically from the fabric of the music and seem perfectly integrated into the narrative context. Meanwhile, the concluding rondos seem ready to burst with a sense of elation and sheer fun.”

Gramophone

“Ohlsson’s 74-year-old fingers operate at unambiguous full capacity. Runs and trills are as accurate, assured, and directional as ever; themes are thoughtfully characterized and articulated with variety. Unlike many pianists who rattle off the “Emperor” concerto’s introductory cadenza like a day at the races, Ohlsson’s shapely phrasing draws attention to the composer rather than to himself. I’m especially taken with Ohlsson’s vocally informed legato and rapt sustaining power in all five slow movements, where he strikes a happy medium between his one-time mentor Claudio Arrau’s rhetorical inflections and Wilhelm Kempff’s luminous intimacy (the pianist’s hauntingly calibrated left-hand tremolos in No. 3’s Largo seem to emerge from afar). The assiduously dovetailed rapid exchanges between soloist and orchestra in No. 4’s Rondo either result from painstaking rehearsal or profound mental telepathy.”

Classics Today

Release Date:

May 12, 2023

Number of Discs:

3

Label:

Reference Recordings

Total length:

3:05:56