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LEBRECHT LISTENS | Plucky Australian Brett Dean compares his A Winter’s Journey to the Beethoven concerto that inspired him

Posted on by angelo

Pianist Jonathan Biss (Photo: Benjamin Ealovega)
Pianist Jonathan Biss (Photo: Benjamin Ealovega)

Beethoven: Emperor Concerto; Brett Dean: A Winter Journey (Beethoven/5, Vol. 1 (Live)) (Orchid)

★★★☆☆

🎧 Apple | Spotify | Amazon

Composers have learned not to pick on Beethoven. There have been fewer variations on Beethoven’s themes than on the works of any other master. Reformers, like Mahler, who have sought to update his instrumentation have come away with bloody noses. A recent computerized “completion” of a supposed tenth Beethoven symphony was a very bad artificial intelligence joke.

It took guts for Australian Brett Dean to compose a new piano concerto from fragments of the Emperor concerto, especially when the Emperor is played before it in the same program. Dean, a former violist with the Berlin Philharmonic, is a stickler for orchestral recipes that sound both fresh and familiar. He knows exactly what he’s doing. If “A Winter’s Journey” drifts into a gray line, he throws in a clever riff from the Emperor and all is well with the audience.

Dean’s 27-minute, three-movement work has more notes than Beethoven needed, but pianos have improved since his time, as have pianists. Jonathan Biss plays A Winter’s Journey with astonishing dexterity and obvious enjoyment. The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra stays roughly within safe noise limits. David Afkham conducts the work.

I have listened to Dean’s work three times and I remain neutral, unable to predict its future. The Swedish interpretation of the Emperor Concerto is decidedly disappointing.

To learn more about Norman Lebrecht, subscribe to Slippedisc.com.

#LUDWIGVAN

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Subscribe to the Ludwig van Daily — classical music and opera in five minutes or less HERE.

LEBRECHT LISTENS | Plucky Australian Brett Dean compares his A Winter’s Journey to the Beethoven concerto that inspired him

Posted on by angelo

Pianist Jonathan Biss (Photo: Benjamin Ealovega)
Pianist Jonathan Biss (Photo: Benjamin Ealovega)

Beethoven: Emperor Concerto; Brett Dean: A Winter Journey (Beethoven/5, Vol. 1 (Live)) (Orchid)

★★★☆☆

🎧 Apple | Spotify | Amazon

Composers have learned not to pick on Beethoven. There have been fewer variations on Beethoven’s themes than on the works of any other master. Reformers, like Mahler, who sought to modernize his instrumentation have come away with bloody noses. A recent computerized “completion” of a supposed tenth Beethoven symphony was a very bad AI joke.

It took guts for Australian Brett Dean to compose a new piano concerto from fragments of the Emperor concerto, especially when the Emperor is played before it in the same program. Dean, a former violist with the Berlin Philharmonic, is a stickler for orchestral recipes that sound both fresh and familiar. He knows exactly what he’s doing. If “A Winter’s Journey” drifts into a gray line, he throws in a clever riff from the Emperor and all is well with the audience.

Dean’s 27-minute, three-movement work has more notes than Beethoven needed, but pianos have improved since his time, as have pianists. Jonathan Biss plays A Winter’s Journey with astonishing dexterity and obvious enjoyment. The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra stays roughly within safe noise limits. David Afkham conducts the work.

I have listened to Dean’s work three times and I remain neutral, unable to predict its future. The Swedish interpretation of the Emperor Concerto is decidedly disappointing.

To learn more about Norman Lebrecht, subscribe to Slippedisc.com.

#LUDWIGVAN

Get daily art news delivered straight to your inbox.

Subscribe to the Ludwig van Daily — classical music and opera in five minutes or less HERE.