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Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 19
The Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 19, by Ludwig van Beethoven was composed primarily between 1787 and 1789, although it did not attain the form in which it was published until 1795. Beethoven did write a second finale for it in 1798 for performance in Prague, but that is not the finale that was published. It was used by the composer as a vehicle for his own performances as a young virtuoso, initially intended with the Bonn Hofkapelle. It was published in December 1801 as Op. 19, later than the publication in March that year of his later composition the Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major as Op. 15, and thus became designated as his second piano concerto.
Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Concerto_No._2_(Beethoven)
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Beethoven: Complete Piano Concertos
RecommendedKrystian Zimerman (piano), London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle
It is appropriate that the peak of Beethoven’s orchestral artistry should be scaled by two musicians also at the height of their powers: these performances are as near-definitive as I ever expect... —
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Presto Recording of the Week, 16th July 2021
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BBC Music Magazine, September 2021, Recording of the Month
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2021
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International Classical Music Awards, 2022, Nominated - Concerto
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2022, Shortlisted - Concerto
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Special offer. Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 5
Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano), Freiburger Barockorchester, Pablo Heras-Casado
These are invigorating performances of Beethoven’s first and last concertos, conveying an admirable sense of spontaneity…The entire performance [of No. 2] radiates energy and enjoyment… Bezuidenhout... —
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Record Review, 15th February 2020, Record of the Week
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BBC Music Magazine, April 2020, Concerto Choice
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2020, Nominee - Conductor of the Year
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2020, Nominee - Instrumentalist of the Year
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Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2020
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Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 5
Martin Helmchen (piano)
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Andrew Manze
Helmchen really brings out the different approaches Beethoven took in these concertos. A sturdy, reliable recording of two great works. —
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International Classical Music Awards, 2019, Nominee - Concerto
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2019, Editor's Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2020, Finalist - Concerto
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Gramophone Awards, 2020, Beethoven250 Award
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Beethoven: The Piano Concertos
RecommendedStephen Hough (piano), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu
Hough’s individualities of phrasing and subtleties of pedalling are all contained within a relatively Classical sense of order. He brings splendour to the greater grandiosity of the Emperor... —
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Record Review, 2nd May 2020, Record of the Week
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2020
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The Times Records of the Year, 2020
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Beethoven: The Complete Piano Concertos
Garrick Ohlsson (piano), Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, Sir Donald Runnicles
…These are my type of performances—full-bodied-sounding modern instruments in up-tempo, sharply defined readings set in perfect balance between piano and orchestra. No detail—be it tempo indication,... —
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Record Review, 20th May 2023, Record of the Week
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2023, Editor's Choice
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Uchida takes enormous care over articulation, clarity, voicing and dynamics. And this is true in the simplest passages as well as the most virtuoso...Uchida’s fastidious articulateness makes... —
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Record Review, 26th January 2019, Disc of the Week
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Gramophone Magazine, March 2019, Editor's Choice
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Special offer. Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-5
RecommendedPaul Lewis (piano)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Jiri Belohlávek
This new set of the Beethoven concertos is interestingly different in emphasis, in that whereas I had previously thought of Lewis as primarily a thoughtful, searching player...these accounts... —
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Presto Recording of the Week, 12th July 2010
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Gramophone Magazine, September 2010, Disc of the Month
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Beethoven: The Piano Concertos
RecommendedThe five Beethoven piano concertos on period instruments
Ronald Brautigam (fortepiano)
Die Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
Textures are bracingly lean, with a lightness and transparency that seems airborne...There’s nothing pompous or heavyhanded in these readings. Both Brautigam and Willens are alive to Beethoven’s... —
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
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Martha Argerich Plays Beethoven & Ravel
Martha Argerich (piano), Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Lahav Shani
Shani and the Israel Philharmonic create a finely detailed sound in both these concertos, allowing Argerich to duet gracefully with them in the Beethoven. Her touch is pearlised in the Allegro... —
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BBC Music Magazine, May 2023, Concerto Choice
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International Classical Music Awards, 2024, Nominated - Concerto
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Sunday Times, 10 Best Classical Albums of 2023
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Harnoncourt - Beethoven
RecommendedGidon Kremer & Pierre-Laurent Aimard
Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Another absorbing set, with Nikolaus Harnoncourt bringing his impeccable, historically-informed sensibilities to the modern instruments of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. The Eroica is mightily... —
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Building a Library, January 2015, First Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 1992, Recording of the Year
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Presto Favourites, Recommended Recording
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Building a Library, January 2020, Also Recommended
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