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Beethoven: Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Royal Festival Hall, London, 21.4.2009 (GDn)

Beethoven: Piano Concertos 2, 1 and 3


Presenting three Beethoven piano concertos in one concert, Pierre-Laurent Aimard obviously thinks you can’t have too much of a good thing. He may not be known as a specialist in this repertoire, but his collaborators, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe certainly are. Beethoven represents an important juncture for Aimard. His recent transition from contemporary specialist to all rounder has taken him further and further into the past – Ligeti, Ravel, Beethoven and most recently Bach, with a bestselling Art of Fugue recording last year. Beethoven, of course, is unavoidable repertoire for any pianist, and Aimard’s professional relationship with his instrument’s greatest composer is already well established. The recording of his debut recital at Carnegie Hall in 2001, for example, includes the Appasionata and, with the possible exception of the Berg Op.1, it is the highlight of the disc.

Directing from the piano poses a fresh challenge for this challenge-hungry performer. Aimard approaches this not as a combined role, but rather as two alternating responsibilities. The orchestral expositions to each concerto are conducted in full podium grandeur. Then he sits and plays, and any orchestral interjections further down the line are given as much sign language as time allows. A middle road would serve the orchestra better. They have no need of a conductor anyway, although his emotive gestures often lead the orchestra to drive home agogic emphasis in a way that an unconducted ensemble would be unlikely to match. But the lack of directions to the orchestra when Aimard plays can also be problematic, with few head or shoulder gestures that might enable them to keep up with his beat. Ensemble within the orchestra is never a problem, but their coordination with the piano was occasionally precarious.

For the first half of the concert, the second and first concertos, issues of style also separated soloist from ensemble. The CEO is interested in passion and intensity when it comes to Beethoven. Aimard is too, but in a different way. He has a very definite touch, every note is important and nothing is treated as decorative. There are shades of Messiaen in his playing, the way, for example, that the piano in the Turangalîla Symphony is expected to play at every dynamic level, but to provide each with a percussive articulation. Few other pianists would apply this style to early Beethoven, but it works. The composer’s gritty determination is projected through this firm yet varied sound. Prolonged trills in the upper register are particularly effective in Aimard’s hands, giving a maniacal intensity that accords magnificently with the uglier side of the composer’s personality.

If I’ve one complaint about Aimard’s playing, it is his lack of commitment to the cadenzas in the concertos of the first half. Anyone who has seen him perform the Turangalîla Symphony from memory or Ligeti’s complete etudes in a single concert will know that Beethoven’s technicalities hold no terrors for him. But he is modest to a fault, and these cadenzas lack both purpose and spectacle when they have no bravura or ego to channel. 

No such complaints with the second half though. It is a little unfair on Beethoven to programme him against himself. The first two piano concertos are excellent works in isolation, but pale somewhat in comparison to the Third. The performers took a similar view and raised their already impressive game to a new level for this last work. And any concerns about Aimard’s commitment vanished the instant he began to play. The orchestra plays modern instruments, with the exception of the trumpets and timpani, but are able to create a diversity of timbre, especially in the woodwind, that is more usually associated with period performers. And despite their not performing together on a full-time basis, they cohere impressively and rise to each of Beethoven’s challenges, without, of course, upstaging the star. 

Aimard’s performance of this music, and of the Third Concerto in particular, offers genuine interpretive insights. He has expanded his musical horizons considerably since his days as the wunderkind of the 1980s Paris avant-garde. His interpretations of the classical era repertoire bear the distinctive hallmarks of a modern music specialist and are immeasurably enriched through that heritage. There are few performers in the contemporary music scene to match Aimard, and in some ways it is a shame that his talents are being redirected to the work of an already oversubscribed composer. But the results are magnificent and more than justify his change of focus. Ligeti’s loss is Beethoven’s gain.

Gavin Dixon

This concert was recorded by BBC Radio 3 for future broadcast.


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