Yehudi Menuhin was one of the great interpreters of Beethoven's Violin
Concerto in D.  When I read that he was conducting a recording of Beethoven
piano concertos for EMI, I waited for the release with keen anticipation.
Subsequently, I discovered that Francois-Rene Duchable was the soloist;
more surprising, they were recording Beethoven's arrangement for piano of
his violin concerto in addition to the B flat major concerto (Beethoven's
initial concerto).

Getting straight to the point, I can't recommend this recording for a
number of reasons:

1.  Duchable and Beethoven do not mix well.  I first heard Duchable
in an Erato disc of Poulenc concertos, and he did a great job.  But, in
Beethoven, he has a pronounced lack of poetry as he continues to hack his
way at the piano keys.  His mode of operation is particularly detrimental
To the slow movements.  Whatever the term "legato" means to Duchable, I
can't connect with it.  Comparing him in the B flat major with
Schiff/Haitink, it's easy to hear that Schiff displays a wealth of poetry.

2.  Less detrimental, the piano sound on higher notes often has a "ping"
type sound to it.  Just a little annoyance.

3.  I love Beethoven's Violin Concerto, but the arrangement for piano and
orchestra just doesn't do much for me.  It's a "curiosity" to be sure, but
not much more than that.

4.  The last problem is kind of goofy and amusing.  Here we have Duchable,
who's not on Beethoven's wavelength at all, composing his own cadenza to
the 1st movement of the B flat major concerto.  It's a total "bomb".
When I turned to Schiff, it felt like I was entering heaven's gate.  Well,
Duchable does have chutzpah, but I'd rather hear him record a few volumes
of Poulenc solo piano music.

But, there is a silver lining in all these clouds - the man I initally
spoke of, Menuhin.  His conducting is really good, it's excellent.  To
take a basic example, Menuhin fully understands the youthful elements of
the B flat major's 1st and 3rd movements.  His performance is that of a
young man, pure and simple.  Outstanding.  Then I gave a listen to Haitink
in the B flat major 1st movement; he is a little slower, but it seems that
he's much slower.  Reason? He's so heavy.  I had the feeling that I had the
weight of the world on my shoulders and I'd been carrying it around for a
long time.  That's not my idea of the right images for youthful and full of
hope compositions.

Schiff/Menuhin would have been a better match, but I'm not sure that Schiff
would even want to keep up with Menuhin.  Everything is alright though.
There are many versions of the B flat major which combine youth, poetry,
power, etc.  My favorite is Brendel/Levine on Philips; it has everything I
could want from this work.

Don's Conclusion - The only reason to buy this disc is for Menuhin.
Recommended solely to major-league Menuhin fans.  I've read two reviews
of the recording: both were complimentary of Menuhin, one didn't think
well of Duchable, the other didn't even mention him or his performance
(strange).  The catalog number is 56875.

Don Satz
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