スティーヴン・ハフ!
ベートーヴェンのピアノ協奏曲全集!

イギリス・ピアノ界の名匠スティーヴン・ハフは、4つのグラミー賞ノミネート、2つの"Record of the Year"を含む8つのグラモフォン賞受賞を誇る、ピアノ王国ハイぺリオンを代表するピアニスト。中でも、録音史上最高峰と誉れの高い「ラフマニノフ」(OCDA 67501/2)や、グラモフォン・ゴールド・ディスク賞に輝いた「サン=サーンス」(MCDA67331/2)など、特に協奏曲録音で極めて高い評価を築いているスティーヴン・ハフが満を持してベートーヴェン・イヤーに贈るピアノ協奏曲全集。

フィンランドの俊英ハンヌ・リントゥ率いるフィンランド放送交響楽団とともに2019年5月にベートーヴェンのピアノ協奏曲全曲演奏会を行い、その約1か月後に万全の体制でスタジオ録音されたベートーヴェン。ハフの知的で探究的なピアニズムで、偉大な楽聖の調べを華麗に祝います。
東京エムプラス

発売・販売元 提供資料 （2020/02/13）

Pianist Stephen Hough has waited until late mid-career to record the Beethoven piano concertos, and it shows. With all the competition in this field, he made sure to produce a distinctive set, and anyone wondering whether his performances are derivative can relax. Houghs concertos are deliberate and remain mostly at the lower end of the dynamic range. A casual traversal might give the impression that hes being deliberately antiheroic, but nothing could be further from the truth. Houghs tempos, except in the slow movement of the Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73, are on the slow side, but what this does is open up room for a striking amount of well-considered detail. This perhaps works least well in the Emperor, although that slow movement takes on a new and intriguing proportional relationship to the big opening movement here. The first two concertos give a sense of Beethoven straining to break out of established forms as few other performances do, and the Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58, is perhaps best of all, as Hough establishes a kind of meditative mood. Hes matched every step of the way by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Hannu Lintu, pared down to historical-performance dimensions and minimal vibrato in the strings. The sound from the Helsinki Music Centre is another attraction. This is a Beethoven piano concerto set that stands out from the crowd, whatever listeners may think of its overall approach.

Rovi