Melvyn Tan, The London Classical Players, Roger Norrington - Beethoven: Piano Concertos 3 & 4 (1993)

Whereas Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 is, despite its exemplary classical form, a direct descendant of Mozart's late works of the same genre (the opening theme appears to be a quotation), his No. 4 is a pioneering work full of innovation and ideas that were staggeringly different: the very fact that the first movement is introduced by the pianist playing solo instead of by an orchestral introduction is a revolution in itself and a signpost of the good things to come. The adjective that seems to describe Melvyn Tan's and Roger Norrington's recording best is 'winsome', here used in its positive meaning of 'attractive, pleasing' with a slight tinge of 'childlike-ness'. The whole CD seems to irradiate a naive charm, and Tan's delicate, virtuoso, but never really dramatic piano playing is a constant pleasure to the ears, emphasizing the sheer musicality of Beethoven's genius, but somewhat suppressing the heroic overtones that can be heard in some other versions.

Although the sound quality is excellent (the recording was made in 1988 in London's prestigious Abbey Road Studios), the problem of the balance between the orchestra and the fortepiano (a copy of an instrument by Nannette Streicher, 1814) noted on the CD with the two first Piano Concertos remains: The fortepiano is presumably realistically captured on the disc, but it sounds, for our modern ears, not quite loud enough and seems occasionally to get lost in the sound of the (excellent) orchestra. (What a pity that the London Classical Players have disbanded!)

All in all, an excellent disc but surely not the only imaginable version; worth listening to, but also worth comparing with other period and/or modern instrument recordings.