Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3

was released in 1999. Ever since his acclaimed set of the five Beetoven concertos with Klemperer in 1968, Barenboim has had serious credentials as piano soloist in these works. Twenty years later he decied to take on the double role of pianist and conductor. Is this an act of arrogance or folly? Beethoven's orchestral parts are symphonic in scale, and alth9ugh I'm sure Barenboim thoroughly drilled his interpretations into the Berlin Phil., they are weak interpretations to begin with. Even here in the relatively undemanding Concertos #2 and #3, the orchestra needs a real leader, not just one of Barenboim's free hands. The tempos tend to be on the slowish side, and there are almost no interesting events--all we hear is Barenboim the pianist concentrating on his part, which he plays well but with only half the energy and imagination he showed twenty years before. The fast movements are rhythmically slack in both concertos, while the slow movements are fussed over within an inch of their lives.