Piotr Anderszewski Plays Beethoven

Piotr Anderszewski's latest: the Op 126 Bagatelles and C Major Concerto. It snuck up on me - I had no idea it was coming. Four listens in relatively rapid succession convinces me of its superior quality, with some caveats. First of all, Anderszewski indulges in all his standard mannerisms. If you don't care for his style, I think you probably won't like this disc. I love his flexibility with respect to tempo and dynamics, and his dexterity is, as always, high grade. The Bagatelles benefit greatly from his approach, and his take surpasses Brendel (yes, Brendel), who was my previous favorite here.

The concerto is a little less successful. Full of pep and power where needed, Andersewski's indulgences make the first two movements sound a bit less like early Beethoven than normal. The finale is fine enough. I heard him play this in concert a few years ago teamed with Yakov Kreizberg, and then, if memory serves, he was less indulgent and snappier, though not by orders of magnitude or anything. Perhaps he should work with conductors more in such repertoire? Nah.

Sound is excellent except that the timpani are a bit too prominent for my liking.