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.