Beethoven: The Complete Piano Concertos

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A "landmark recording of the Beethoven concertos," declares the Financial Times in a five-star review of this three-disc set. Performed with the Budapest Festival Orchestra led by Iván Fischer, it marks Goode's first recording of these masterpieces. “Goode is one of the great pianists of our time," says the Denver Post, "and he might well be without equal when it comes to the music of Beethoven.”

Description

Nonesuch Records released Grammy Award–winning pianist Richard Goode’s first recording of all five Beethoven piano concertos on May 5, 2009. The five works—spanning three discs—feature the Budapest Festival Orchestra led by the group’s founding conductor, Iván Fischer. Goode is one of very few American pianists to have recorded the complete Beethoven concertos, and the first to do so in nearly 20 years. The Financial Times gives the three-disc set five stars and declares it a "landmark recording of the Beethoven concertos."

This recording continues Goode’s long relationship with the works of Ludwig van Beethoven; in 1993 Nonesuch released a 10-disc set of his performances of the complete Beethoven sonatas, which was nominated for a Grammy and received much critical acclaim. The Guardian (UK) said, "It has been Richard Goode’s Beethoven performances that have nurtured his reputation. His accounts of the piano sonatas in concert and on disc (he was the first American-born pianist to record a complete cycle) are performances to which one can return without fear of finding them stale. They lack mannerisms and any sense of a performing ego trying to insinuate itself between the music and listener—the same selfless gift that his teacher Rudolf Serkin exemplified.”

Goode says, “It has been a great pleasure for me to perform and record the Beethoven concertos with Iván Fischer and his remarkable orchestra. Their superb brio, musical vitality, and total absence of routine have been an inspiration. I hope these performances will be faithful to the spirit of these great works and also reflect the joy of our collaboration.”

In regular performances with major orchestras, recitals in the world’s music capitals, and on acclaimed recordings, Richard Goode has won a devoted following among his fellow musicians, audiences, and critics, performing the works of Bach, Mozart, Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Debussy, Janáček, George Perle, and others. Goode’s 21 Nonesuch recordings range from solo and chamber works to lieder and concerti.

Iván Fischer is the founder and music director of the Budapest Festival Orchestra and principal conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, DC. The ensemble is both a vital part of Budapest’s music life, usually performing to capacity audiences, and a frequent guest at the world’s most important concert halls.

ProductionCredits

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced by Max Wilcox and Hein Dekker
Engineer: Jean-Marie Geijsen
Recorded June 20-23, 2005 (Concertos Nos. 1-3), and November 20-21, 2005 (Nos. 4-5), at the National Concert Hall, Budapest
Mixed by Max Wilcox and Paul Zinman at SoundByte Productions, NYC

Design by Evan Gaffney
Photography by Michael Wilson

Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz

Nonesuch Selection Number

480508

Number of Discs in Set
3discs
Album Status
Artist Name
Richard Goode
MusicianDetails

MUSICIANS
Richard Goode, piano
Budapest Festival Orchestra
Iván Fischer, conductor

Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
CD+MP3
UPC
075597992830BUN
Label
MP3
Price
18.00
UPC
075597992816
  • 480508

News & Reviews

  • The Royal Conservatory of Music’s Koerner Hall in Toronto has announced its 2023–24 concert season—the venue’s fifteenth anniversary season—including performances from Rhiannon Giddens, Brad Mehldau, Laurie Anderson, Kronos Quartet, and Richard Goode.

     

     

  • Richard Goode's Beethoven: The Complete Sonatas, first released on Nonesuch in 1993 and nominated for a Grammy Award, is available once again on CD, now at a new, lower price. The box set includes ten individual CD sleeves and a forty-page booklet with the original liner note by the late musicologist Michael Steinberg. "An outstanding set," exclaims the New York Times. "It is hard to think of any other artist at once technically, temperamentally and intellectually as suited to the challenges of these sonatas." The Guardian calls it "superb." Gramophone says it's "one of the finest interpretations ever put on record."

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  • About This Album

    Nonesuch Records released Grammy Award–winning pianist Richard Goode’s first recording of all five Beethoven piano concertos on May 5, 2009. The five works—spanning three discs—feature the Budapest Festival Orchestra led by the group’s founding conductor, Iván Fischer. Goode is one of very few American pianists to have recorded the complete Beethoven concertos, and the first to do so in nearly 20 years. The Financial Times gives the three-disc set five stars and declares it a "landmark recording of the Beethoven concertos."

    This recording continues Goode’s long relationship with the works of Ludwig van Beethoven; in 1993 Nonesuch released a 10-disc set of his performances of the complete Beethoven sonatas, which was nominated for a Grammy and received much critical acclaim. The Guardian (UK) said, "It has been Richard Goode’s Beethoven performances that have nurtured his reputation. His accounts of the piano sonatas in concert and on disc (he was the first American-born pianist to record a complete cycle) are performances to which one can return without fear of finding them stale. They lack mannerisms and any sense of a performing ego trying to insinuate itself between the music and listener—the same selfless gift that his teacher Rudolf Serkin exemplified.”

    Goode says, “It has been a great pleasure for me to perform and record the Beethoven concertos with Iván Fischer and his remarkable orchestra. Their superb brio, musical vitality, and total absence of routine have been an inspiration. I hope these performances will be faithful to the spirit of these great works and also reflect the joy of our collaboration.”

    In regular performances with major orchestras, recitals in the world’s music capitals, and on acclaimed recordings, Richard Goode has won a devoted following among his fellow musicians, audiences, and critics, performing the works of Bach, Mozart, Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Debussy, Janáček, George Perle, and others. Goode’s 21 Nonesuch recordings range from solo and chamber works to lieder and concerti.

    Iván Fischer is the founder and music director of the Budapest Festival Orchestra and principal conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, DC. The ensemble is both a vital part of Budapest’s music life, usually performing to capacity audiences, and a frequent guest at the world’s most important concert halls.

    Credits

    MUSICIANS
    Richard Goode, piano
    Budapest Festival Orchestra
    Iván Fischer, conductor

    PRODUCTION CREDITS
    Produced by Max Wilcox and Hein Dekker
    Engineer: Jean-Marie Geijsen
    Recorded June 20-23, 2005 (Concertos Nos. 1-3), and November 20-21, 2005 (Nos. 4-5), at the National Concert Hall, Budapest
    Mixed by Max Wilcox and Paul Zinman at SoundByte Productions, NYC

    Design by Evan Gaffney
    Photography by Michael Wilson

    Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz

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