Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3, Triple Concerto

Album review

The wonderful but unusual combination of Beethoven's C minor Piano Concerto and his Triple Concerto for piano, violin, and cello proves entertaining in this 2008 release from Barry Douglas and the Camerata Ireland. Douglas, a world class virtuoso pianist who also directs from the keyboard, proves a noble soloist in the C minor Concerto, turning in an expansive opening Allegro con moto, a heartfelt central Largo and a hell-bent for leather closing Allegro. Joined by agile violinist Chee-Yun and aggressive cellist Andrès Diaz in the Triple Concerto, Douglas creates an effervescent opening Allegro, a singing central Largo, and a laughing, closing Rondo alla polacca. Appropriately, the performances are poised between the dramatic and the lyrical, with the soloists at the front of the stage and the orchestra providing a balance between support and assertion. Though some listeners may retain an affection for performances in which the roles of the soloist and the orchestra are more strongly contrasted, the more collaborative approach of Douglas and the Irish musicians is certainly well done. Recorded at Mahoney Hall in the Helix, Dublin, in 2007, Satirino's digital sound is a tad close but very direct.
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