Leon Fleisher, The Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell - Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 3 & 4 (2006)

It was the heroic age, the postwar age when American pianists first made their mark in the great wide world. The heroes took many forms: the apollonian Van Cliburn, the dionysic Byron Janis, and the mercurial Gary Graffman, along with many, many others. The most intellectually brilliant and technically incendiary member of the pantheon was Leon Fleisher. While other heroes rode the Russian war horses of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov to fame and glory, Fleisher stuck with Beethoven and Brahms, the Alpha and Omega of German composers for the piano. In these Columbia recordings of Beethoven's Third and Fourth piano concertos from the 1959 and 1961, Fleisher teamed with George Szell, the sternest of living conductors, leading the Cleveland Orchestra, the most virtuosic of American orchestras, and the results are transcendent. Fleisher has the depth and force to plumb the abysmal depths of Beethoven's only minor-keyed piano concerto and the polish and refinement to soar on the ethereal lyricism of Beethoven's most gracious piano concerto. Szell, nobody's idea of an interpretive push over, is an ideal accompanist, strong but supportive and always a full partner. Columbia's stereo sound was direct and immediate in its day and sounds just as fine in this 2006 reissue.