It's amazing how different one's reaction to a new recording can be. My first "real" encounter with Bartók's three piano concertos was the Salonen/Bronfman recording on Sony, which I got in 1997. I love this recording to this day. I actually like these concertos and have heard quite a few versions since and have a few select "favorites". When I first saw the new Pentatone recording with Aimard/Salonen I thought, wow, that's interesting (I generally like Aimard, in repertoire like Messiean or Debussy). Then I saw your video review here and thought, oh, what a pity. Nevertheless, I played the first piano concerto (with some trepidation... in high-res via Qobuz), and at first I thought you were right... this new recording seems tamer on first glance, less aggressive... but the more I listened, the more I was pulled in. Every note was so "specific", I was totally engrossed in the music (which I know quite well). It's a different take on the material than Salonen/Bronfman (which I still love), sure, but it's just as fascinating. Haven't listened to concertos two and three yet, but I have already added this to my "Bartok" collection. I enjoyed this performance a lot. Speaking of enjoyment... regardless of whether I agree with your review (which I do quite often), I enjoy watching your classical music videos a lot... full of insights, knowledge, yet unpretentious, and easy to follow.
Ya made me listen -- streaming, that is... I've heard some bad performances of different individual Bartok Piano Concertos but you are right, this one makes me suddenly appreciate all the others -- ALL of them. It sounds like this pianist was assigned the project. In every other case, you at least have the feeling that the pianist likes the music.
Thank you Dave. I feel so validated! I was at the performance of the 3rd concerto. Mr. Aimard was using sheet music. My impression was that he had learned the notes, but was struggling to make it through the concerto, as he was flipping pages. I felt no commitment to the music whatsoever. Because of his reputation, I kept thinking, "Am I missing something?" But NO! It was boring and, in-person, you could feel Mr. Aimard struggling.
To be fair, having your music in front of you doesn’t necessarily mean you haven’t explored the piece properly. Everyone’s different, people like to have it as a memory aid, and I’ve seen celebrated soloists give great performances with their sheets in front of them.
@@bomcabedal Yes to that! No music is a gimmick and should not be encouraged. If you are a self-respecting performer, you'll have it there but you certainly know the piece well! As I'm sure Aimard, whatever the results may have been, did and does.
Aimard almost always plays with sheet music in front of him. Who cares? He's a great artist. I noticed that the orchestra players had music in front of them, too. :)
You’re absolutely 👍 right. I listened through Apple 🍏 Music 🎶 and it didn’t last long and I deleted it from my library. So far; Solti and Ashkenazy performances are my absolute favorite. I really don’t understand why such a mess is on CD 💿
Thank you for that warning - you wouldn't expect Salonen to release a bad recording, and I wouldn't have done had I not seen your review: happily, it has eluded me until today: and now it will continue to.
Hmm. I’m convinced by what you say Dave. I won’t buy this. However, as usual, I’m a bit depressed by the generalised comments about artists. People sitting at home launching negativity. Ironically I heard Aimard doing Ligeti at the weekend and wondered if he isn’t sometimes just too forceful but you have to be, live, sometimes. Look, his Vingt Regards might not be everyone’s cup of tea but they woke them up a bit. Plus, suspect there’s there’s the usual groaning going on about Messiaen/ Boulez/ Ligeti/ Avant Garde going on. Probably, looking at how sweaty and tired he looked at the weekend, too many concerts. But he’s very intelligent in discussing music and not one to not engage with audiences at length… You could learn a lot from him (and Salonen of course). But I’ll trust that this is a duff recording and avoid it!
I second your feelings to the extent that we are here to talk about recordings, and it's so easy these days to listen before posting a snarky note in the comments. On the other hand, Aimard is a major artist and doesn't need anyone to defend him. What he has done elsewhere is similarly irrelevant to the matter at hand, which is how he does on this recording.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Yes, as if any of these negative people could even play a page of Bartok's music themselves. I've played Bartok piano music--it's challenging! I'd also like to point out that Aimard has gotten rave reviews for this CD from other, possibly more knowledgeable, critics.
I've heard AImard in concert 5 or 6 times (I live near Chicago) and I have most of his recordings. I love this CD and I found it thrilling to listen to. I also have played Bartok on the piano and it's very difficult music. I would recommend that some of the angry people listen to Aimard playing the 2nd movement of Bartok's second concerto. It's a lovely, singing performance. I also think that sometimes people--especially non-pianists--have a recording of a famous piece like Bartok's piano concertos and they are so used to their much-listened to recording that they hate the sound of any different pianist playing. But Aimard is a great artist and has made a tremendously beautiful recording and I cannot understand why some of these people are so negative.
The difference between Kocsis' incipit of the second concerto and Aimard's is astonishing. Is like listening to a concert pianist and then a (good) student.
Maybe I know the answer on the availibity of the recordings. In the Netherlands this recording is listed in a big national campaign called ‘Aangenaam Klassiek’. As one of the people who chooses the titles for this campaign I was really looking forward to this release and was shocked how disappointing it sounded when I first heard it! But still it is very well available in the Netherlands and our music shop has sold quite some copies of it. What to do? Perhaps I can offer a replacement cd with the concertos in decent recordings. (There are many good ones) and return all the copies of this recording to the distributor. These should never have been issued!
Thanks for this review, Dave. As for Salonen's contributions, he did better in his earlier Bartok Concerto cycle with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and soloist Yefim Bronfman on Sony Classics.
This showed up on streaming right on time. I listened to it and did not enjoy myself at all. However, I thought the problem was me. After all, this is Aimard and Salonen! How could that be anything but fantastic!? I was going to go back and listen to it again but watching your review has given me the courage to admit the problem isn't me. It's them! It is boring as heck! How you can play the Bartok piano concertos as boring is pretty crazy! But here it is!
I attended two of the concerts when these were recorded (17 June 2022 & 18 February 2023). Both nights I attended seemed dull but the 17 June was so poorly attended (guessing ~30% capacity) and I specifically recall being absolutely bored by the concerto. I was still eager for this release, hoping superior performances the other nights were captured. However, after two listenings via TIDAL, I feel the same as I did after those concerts. I attended quite a few low attendance evenings at Davies in 2022 to the point where a buddy and I started calling them "private concerts" due to having entire sections to ourselves. Do orchestras and soloists have an obligation to excel when so many seats are empty? I love Bartok's concertos and am a big fan of Salonen so this was disappointing.
Yes, they do. They get paid the same no matter how many people show up, and by rights they should work harder so those who did not attend could learn from those who were there just how much they missed.
“You know just within a couple of minutes these recordings are going to be special. As Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony sweep thrillingly into the First Piano Concerto’s Allegro, Pierre-Laurent Aimard luxuriates in the space they leave him on a superbly recorded disc… ‘Definitive’ is a daft word to use about an interpretation. How can we truly know? But superlative this absolutely is.” (Sunday Times) 😮😮😮
I heard in Montreal with the OSM just before the pandemic in November 2019 Bartok's 1st piano concerto with Pierre Laurent Aimard and Francois Xavier Roth conducting. Work rarely played here in Canada, I really liked this concerto especially with these 3 musicians at the front of the stage who played funny instruments.....on the other hand the pianist played his part mechanically without much conviction.....as a critic (Marcel Marnat) said in the time, an interpretation between two plane flights......
Too bad! I’m sticking with Anda/Fricsay. However, there is a terrific new recording out on Alpha of the Concerto for Orchestra and Viola Concerto with of all people the Orchestre National de Lille under Alexandre Bloch and violist Amihai Grosz that has more character than any Bartok I’ve heard in recent years, and it’s very well played and recorded. Who would have thought?!
I have seen 3 critics weigh in on this set. Two of them sing its praises to the heights of glory. The third found it a scourge and a slog. Looking at these comments, it seems that not only did everyone hear what you heard, at least one questioned the sanity of one of the two glorifiers (Classic Review). I just recently revisited the entire Kocsis/Fischer set, so I need to hunt up this new set (on Spotify or something -- I'm not buying it!) while the pyrotechnics are solidly in memory. I can always switch it off if it proves quicksand.
I bought this CD and I love it, but I am a big fan of Bartok's piano music and I have heard Aimard in concert many times. I think he's a very interesting pianist.
ouch! I was interested in buying it (unlike in the US, here it's readily and cheaply 16,99 available) but after this and the informed comments below, I reconsidered. I was like: Salonen/Aimard, both cool and modern.-oriented, in Bartok and the SFS, what can go wrong? A lot apparently. And what the heck with the sound quality? Other labels are hit and miss, but Pentatone is usually impeccable..
Be sure to listen to the slow movements of Concerto 2 and 3. They're gorgeous. I read in an interview with Aimard that he studied the Hungarian language as he was preparing this CD. Now that's commitment!
On his pompously titled “Liszt Project” Aimard hat a 3 minute Dirge No 4 (anyways not the most enjoyable Bartok) and it was the dullest of the mostly crystalline and mechanical sounding set. He used to be the absolutely greatest at contemporary piano music, but then got famous and diversified into Beethoven and Bach (Kunst der Fuge dead as played on a typewriter) - such a pity, because he is such a highly cultivated and polyglott personality: now I am reduced to liking the man, but skipping his music entirely. Thanks for the warning - I anyhow wondered why we need another Bartok Piano Concerto set. In the iTunes store it is actually available for 7-8 bucks.
@@laurenhahn101 To my own surprise, Lauren, I have to agree and you are right. For some reason I forgot, Liszt’s B minor is my most-listened-to composition and as things go with these most personal favourites, listening attention, even the excitement fades, “a perfect moment to listen to my favourite piece of music” and it goes by like a soundtrack, taken for granted, a routine: I did not notice Aimard’s B minor at all and your prodding changed that. But I bought the Liszt Project as a fan of Aimard’s with a particular anticipation of all the rarities chosen by a superior intellect especially in the modern and contemporary category with all the classical standards long covered by the usual suspects (why why why have Aimard do the Beethoven concertos with Harnoncourt having grown up with Kempff and learned to also appreciate the reference recordings with Gilels, Serkin, Serkin, Serkin and Serkin etc?) So the disappointment with Aimard, of all people, delivering bland performances especially in his strongest niche, some Stroppa, something Messiaen, and failing to stand out in the most important precursors to contemporary piano music, Liszt’s sublime late Gondola, Nudges Gris & Unstern; Scriabin’s random “Black Mass”; Berg’s brooding op. 1 (how can you rush this in less than 9 minutes where everyone else gives it about 11 minutes at least?!) and some equally random Bartok Dirge (one of the few Bartok “cyclettes” I never liked anyways and was looking to Aimard to open the gates for me) - these tanked the “Project” for me as a documented loss of grip on what he used to explore best and you redeemed the one thing that made the album worth having, it is a great B minor - thanks for pointing this out and making me aware that I have become comfortably numb enjoying some of my all time classics, reducing stuff that spoke to me to ritual. I need to wake up again: thanks, Lauren, for ringing the bell.
@@TiborHuber Thank you for your comments. I guess I would add that Aimard, being French, plays the piano mostly in the French style, which means he plays in a more precise and restrained (for the most part) manner, not in a powerful, passionate manner. (That's probably too simplistic; oh well). I do understand that not everyone enjoys the French style. Aimard is not my favorite pianist--that would be Murray Perahia. But I have followed Aimard's career with interest, especially after I heard his recordings of Messiaen's piano music. I live in Chicago so I have been lucky enough to hear Aimard in 5 or 6 concerts, and Perahia in probably 10 concerts, though I don't think he's performing any more.
Yes, it's extremely uninteresting and empty. That's the feeling I've been getting with Aimard's records. It's a pity, because the first thing I heard from him was beautiful (Ligeti's Etudes in that wonderful Sony edition), but my goodness, this has been a lesson on never trusting an artist just because he did a good thing before.
Very strange. Wasn't Salonen's recording of the Bartok piano concertos with Bronfman brilliant?How could he get it wrong with Aimard? Then it must be Aimard. One prominent Hungarian pianist once told me Aimard did not get Bartok and did not understand his musical language.
Aimard in Brahms or in Messiaen sounds the same to my ears, I confess because I spent some time trying to appreciate him doing the latter. While not knowing very well music, just enjoyed Ferencsik accompanying pianists maybe familiar to everyone but pretty unknown to me (Kornel Zempleny, Tibor Wehner) in the two first concertos. Aimard is the type of interprets I would recommend to my ennemies if had the competency to do so.
I listened to this recording shortly after it was released. I was blown away by just how boring the performance is. Musical phrases are blandly articulated - it's the worst performance of the brilliant Bartok piano concerti I have ever heard. Then I read a review of this recording by The Classic Review and I was confused. How does their critic get it so wrong?
oh dear. I saw Aimard playing Bartok's 3rd concerto in London last month. I was underwhelmed. And Aimard looked, and sounded, bored, like he was just going through the motions. The orchestra - Concerto Budapest - were excellently punchy so I felt sorry for them.
I bought this, and it was sooooo disappointing! Salonen is usually fine in Bartók, and his piano concertos with Bronfman were very good indeed, so I can only presume that his chemistry with Aimard didn't quite click in this repertoire.
Absolutely agree with this review. Really disappointing. The dreadful recording quality made the performances almost unlistenable when I heard them on initial streaming release.
It's amazing how different one's reaction to a new recording can be.
My first "real" encounter with Bartók's three piano concertos was the Salonen/Bronfman recording on Sony, which I got in 1997. I love this recording to this day. I actually like these concertos and have heard quite a few versions since and have a few select "favorites".
When I first saw the new Pentatone recording with Aimard/Salonen I thought, wow, that's interesting (I generally like Aimard, in repertoire like Messiean or Debussy).
Then I saw your video review here and thought, oh, what a pity. Nevertheless, I played the first piano concerto (with some trepidation... in high-res via Qobuz), and at first I thought you were right... this new recording seems tamer on first glance, less aggressive... but the more I listened, the more I was pulled in. Every note was so "specific", I was totally engrossed in the music (which I know quite well). It's a different take on the material than Salonen/Bronfman (which I still love), sure, but it's just as fascinating. Haven't listened to concertos two and three yet, but I have already added this to my "Bartok" collection. I enjoyed this performance a lot.
Speaking of enjoyment... regardless of whether I agree with your review (which I do quite often), I enjoy watching your classical music videos a lot... full of insights, knowledge, yet unpretentious, and easy to follow.
Ya made me listen -- streaming, that is... I've heard some bad performances of different individual Bartok Piano Concertos but you are right, this one makes me suddenly appreciate all the others -- ALL of them. It sounds like this pianist was assigned the project. In every other case, you at least have the feeling that the pianist likes the music.
Thanks Dave, you just saved me almost $30! BTW one of their next releases is going to be -- get ready-- Sibelius 5th!
Thank you Dave. I feel so validated! I was at the performance of the 3rd concerto. Mr. Aimard was using sheet music. My impression was that he had learned the notes, but was struggling to make it through the concerto, as he was flipping pages. I felt no commitment to the music whatsoever. Because of his reputation, I kept thinking, "Am I missing something?" But NO! It was boring and, in-person, you could feel Mr. Aimard struggling.
To be fair, having your music in front of you doesn’t necessarily mean you haven’t explored the piece properly. Everyone’s different, people like to have it as a memory aid, and I’ve seen celebrated soloists give great performances with their sheets in front of them.
@@bomcabedal Yes to that! No music is a gimmick and should not be encouraged. If you are a self-respecting performer, you'll have it there but you certainly know the piece well! As I'm sure Aimard, whatever the results may have been, did and does.
Aimard almost always plays with sheet music in front of him. Who cares? He's a great artist. I noticed that the orchestra players had music in front of them, too. :)
You’re absolutely 👍 right. I listened through Apple 🍏 Music 🎶 and it didn’t last long and I deleted it from my library. So far; Solti and Ashkenazy performances are my absolute favorite. I really don’t understand why such a mess is on CD 💿
I would ask you to at least listen to the second movement of Concerto 2. Aimard plays it beautifully.
Thank you for that warning - you wouldn't expect Salonen to release a bad recording, and I wouldn't have done had I not seen your review: happily, it has eluded me until today: and now it will continue to.
Listen to the recording on RUclips and decide for yourself. I think Hurwitz is wrong and doesn't really know much about Bartok's piano music.
Hmm. I’m convinced by what you say Dave. I won’t buy this. However, as usual, I’m a bit depressed by the generalised comments about artists. People sitting at home launching negativity. Ironically I heard Aimard doing Ligeti at the weekend and wondered if he isn’t sometimes just too forceful but you have to be, live, sometimes. Look, his Vingt Regards might not be everyone’s cup of tea but they woke them up a bit. Plus, suspect there’s there’s the usual groaning going on about Messiaen/ Boulez/ Ligeti/ Avant Garde going on.
Probably, looking at how sweaty and tired he looked at the weekend, too many concerts. But he’s very intelligent in discussing music and not one to not engage with audiences at length… You could learn a lot from him (and Salonen of course). But I’ll trust that this is a duff recording and avoid it!
I second your feelings to the extent that we are here to talk about recordings, and it's so easy these days to listen before posting a snarky note in the comments. On the other hand, Aimard is a major artist and doesn't need anyone to defend him. What he has done elsewhere is similarly irrelevant to the matter at hand, which is how he does on this recording.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Yes, as if any of these negative people could even play a page of Bartok's music themselves. I've played Bartok piano music--it's challenging! I'd also like to point out that Aimard has gotten rave reviews for this CD from other, possibly more knowledgeable, critics.
I've heard AImard in concert 5 or 6 times (I live near Chicago) and I have most of his recordings. I love this CD and I found it thrilling to listen to. I also have played Bartok on the piano and it's very difficult music. I would recommend that some of the angry people listen to Aimard playing the 2nd movement of Bartok's second concerto. It's a lovely, singing performance. I also think that sometimes people--especially non-pianists--have a recording of a famous piece like Bartok's piano concertos and they are so used to their much-listened to recording that they hate the sound of any different pianist playing. But Aimard is a great artist and has made a tremendously beautiful recording and I cannot understand why some of these people are so negative.
The difference between Kocsis' incipit of the second concerto and Aimard's is astonishing. Is like listening to a concert pianist and then a (good) student.
Maybe I know the answer on the availibity of the recordings. In the Netherlands this recording is listed in a big national campaign called ‘Aangenaam Klassiek’. As one of the people who chooses the titles for this campaign I was really looking forward to this release and was shocked how disappointing it sounded when I first heard it! But still it is very well available in the Netherlands and our music shop has sold quite some copies of it. What to do? Perhaps I can offer a replacement cd with the concertos in decent recordings. (There are many good ones) and return all the copies of this recording to the distributor. These should never have been issued!
Thanks for this review, Dave. As for Salonen's contributions, he did better in his earlier Bartok Concerto cycle with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and soloist Yefim Bronfman on Sony Classics.
Yes, he did.
Heard the first movement of the 3rd from this recording on Radio 3 this morning and yes - it's dire.
Dire in what way. Aimard has won prizes for almost all of his recordings. Did you listen to Concerto 2?
This showed up on streaming right on time. I listened to it and did not enjoy myself at all. However, I thought the problem was me. After all, this is Aimard and Salonen! How could that be anything but fantastic!? I was going to go back and listen to it again but watching your review has given me the courage to admit the problem isn't me. It's them! It is boring as heck! How you can play the Bartok piano concertos as boring is pretty crazy! But here it is!
I attended two of the concerts when these were recorded (17 June 2022 & 18 February 2023).
Both nights I attended seemed dull but the 17 June was so poorly attended (guessing ~30% capacity) and I specifically recall being absolutely bored by the concerto.
I was still eager for this release, hoping superior performances the other nights were captured. However, after two listenings via TIDAL, I feel the same as I did after those concerts.
I attended quite a few low attendance evenings at Davies in 2022 to the point where a buddy and I started calling them "private concerts" due to having entire sections to ourselves.
Do orchestras and soloists have an obligation to excel when so many seats are empty?
I love Bartok's concertos and am a big fan of Salonen so this was disappointing.
Yes, they do. They get paid the same no matter how many people show up, and by rights they should work harder so those who did not attend could learn from those who were there just how much they missed.
“You know just within a couple of minutes these recordings are going to be special. As Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony sweep thrillingly into the First Piano Concerto’s Allegro, Pierre-Laurent Aimard luxuriates in the space they leave him on a superbly recorded disc… ‘Definitive’ is a daft word to use about an interpretation. How can we truly know? But superlative this absolutely is.” (Sunday Times) 😮😮😮
I just threw up.
Yes. Aimard tends to get rave reviews.
I heard in Montreal with the OSM just before the pandemic in November 2019 Bartok's 1st piano concerto with Pierre Laurent Aimard and Francois Xavier Roth conducting. Work rarely played here in Canada, I really liked this concerto especially with these 3 musicians at the front of the stage who played funny instruments.....on the other hand the pianist played his part mechanically without much conviction.....as a critic (Marcel Marnat) said in the time, an interpretation between two plane flights......
I was looking to buy this, but I thought I would wait for your review. Saved me a few quid
Still enjoying your sound impressions!
Too bad! I’m sticking with Anda/Fricsay. However, there is a terrific new recording out on Alpha of the Concerto for
Orchestra and Viola Concerto with of all people the Orchestre National de Lille under Alexandre Bloch and violist Amihai Grosz that has more character than any Bartok I’ve heard in recent years, and it’s very well played and recorded. Who would have thought?!
I have seen 3 critics weigh in on this set. Two of them sing its praises to the heights of glory. The third found it a scourge and a slog. Looking at these comments, it seems that not only did everyone hear what you heard, at least one questioned the sanity of one of the two glorifiers (Classic Review). I just recently revisited the entire Kocsis/Fischer set, so I need to hunt up this new set (on Spotify or something -- I'm not buying it!) while the pyrotechnics are solidly in memory. I can always switch it off if it proves quicksand.
I bought this CD and I love it, but I am a big fan of Bartok's piano music and I have heard Aimard in concert many times. I think he's a very interesting pianist.
ouch! I was interested in buying it (unlike in the US, here it's readily and cheaply 16,99 available) but after this and the informed comments below, I reconsidered. I was like: Salonen/Aimard, both cool and modern.-oriented, in Bartok and the SFS, what can go wrong? A lot apparently. And what the heck with the sound quality? Other labels are hit and miss, but Pentatone is usually impeccable..
Excellent. Don't listen to these nay sayers.
Sounds like they're of a piece with his dreary Prokofiev concerti.
I'm waiting for the shipment front presto. I hope I'm not disappointed as you were.
I bought the CD and I was not disappointed at all.
Be sure to listen to the slow movements of Concerto 2 and 3. They're gorgeous. I read in an interview with Aimard that he studied the Hungarian language as he was preparing this CD. Now that's commitment!
On his pompously titled “Liszt Project” Aimard hat a 3 minute Dirge No 4 (anyways not the most enjoyable Bartok) and it was the dullest of the mostly crystalline and mechanical sounding set.
He used to be the absolutely greatest at contemporary piano music, but then got famous and diversified into Beethoven and Bach (Kunst der Fuge dead as played on a typewriter) - such a pity, because he is such a highly cultivated and polyglott personality: now I am reduced to liking the man, but skipping his music entirely. Thanks for the warning - I anyhow wondered why we need another Bartok Piano Concerto set.
In the iTunes store it is actually available for 7-8 bucks.
The Liszt sonata was amazing, though.
@@laurenhahn101 To my own surprise, Lauren, I have to agree and you are right.
For some reason I forgot, Liszt’s B minor is my most-listened-to composition and as things go with these most personal favourites, listening attention, even the excitement fades, “a perfect moment to listen to my favourite piece of music” and it goes by like a soundtrack, taken for granted, a routine: I did not notice Aimard’s B minor at all and your prodding changed that.
But I bought the Liszt Project as a fan of Aimard’s with a particular anticipation of all the rarities chosen by a superior intellect especially in the modern and contemporary category with all the classical standards long covered by the usual suspects (why why why have Aimard do the Beethoven concertos with Harnoncourt having grown up with Kempff and learned to also appreciate the reference recordings with Gilels, Serkin, Serkin, Serkin and Serkin etc?)
So the disappointment with Aimard, of all people, delivering bland performances especially in his strongest niche, some Stroppa, something Messiaen, and failing to stand out in the most important precursors to contemporary piano music, Liszt’s sublime late Gondola, Nudges Gris & Unstern; Scriabin’s random “Black Mass”; Berg’s brooding op. 1 (how can you rush this in less than 9 minutes where everyone else gives it about 11 minutes at least?!) and some equally random Bartok Dirge (one of the few Bartok “cyclettes” I never liked anyways and was looking to Aimard to open the gates for me) - these tanked the “Project” for me as a documented loss of grip on what he used to explore best and you redeemed the one thing that made the album worth having, it is a great B minor - thanks for pointing this out and making me aware that I have become comfortably numb enjoying some of my all time classics, reducing stuff that spoke to me to ritual. I need to wake up again: thanks, Lauren, for ringing the bell.
@@TiborHuber Thank you for your comments. I guess I would add that Aimard, being French, plays the piano mostly in the French style, which means he plays in a more precise and restrained (for the most part) manner, not in a powerful, passionate manner. (That's probably too simplistic; oh well). I do understand that not everyone enjoys the French style. Aimard is not my favorite pianist--that would be Murray Perahia. But I have followed Aimard's career with interest, especially after I heard his recordings of Messiaen's piano music. I live in Chicago so I have been lucky enough to hear Aimard in 5 or 6 concerts, and Perahia in probably 10 concerts, though I don't think he's performing any more.
Yes, it's extremely uninteresting and empty. That's the feeling I've been getting with Aimard's records. It's a pity, because the first thing I heard from him was beautiful (Ligeti's Etudes in that wonderful Sony edition), but my goodness, this has been a lesson on never trusting an artist just because he did a good thing before.
Sorry. I just don't see it. I was thrilled with the recording, especially the lovely, singing 2nd movements.
Very strange. Wasn't Salonen's recording of the Bartok piano concertos with Bronfman brilliant?How could he get it wrong with Aimard? Then it must be Aimard. One prominent Hungarian pianist once told me Aimard did not get Bartok and did not understand his musical language.
Aimard in Brahms or in Messiaen sounds the same to my ears, I confess because I spent some time trying to appreciate him doing the latter. While not knowing very well music, just enjoyed Ferencsik accompanying pianists maybe familiar to everyone but pretty unknown to me (Kornel Zempleny, Tibor Wehner) in the two first concertos. Aimard is the type of interprets I would recommend to my ennemies if had the competency to do so.
Maybe the release is a trial balloon, hence the limited availability?
I listened to this recording shortly after it was released. I was blown away by just how boring the performance is. Musical phrases are blandly articulated - it's the worst performance of the brilliant Bartok piano concerti I have ever heard. Then I read a review of this recording by The Classic Review and I was confused. How does their critic get it so wrong?
oh dear. I saw Aimard playing Bartok's 3rd concerto in London last month. I was underwhelmed. And Aimard looked, and sounded, bored, like he was just going through the motions. The orchestra - Concerto Budapest - were excellently punchy so I felt sorry for them.
I bought this, and it was sooooo disappointing! Salonen is usually fine in Bartók, and his piano concertos with Bronfman were very good indeed, so I can only presume that his chemistry with Aimard didn't quite click in this repertoire.
Ominous. I sure hope the San Francisco Conservatory, which now owns Pentatone, hasn't ruined a once great label.
I think Hurwitz is wrong this time. I have been an Aimard fan for years and I love this CD.
Absolutely agree with this review. Really disappointing. The dreadful recording quality made the performances almost unlistenable when I heard them on initial streaming release.