Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1/4

Friedrich Gulda polarized fans and critics all his life. Even today, many classical music fans praise his outstanding technique and superb attacks, but are skeptical vis-à-vis his attempts at creative originality. In January 1953, Gulda played both concertos in three concerts, conducting the Wiener Symphoniker from the keyboard. What we hear is making musical sense at all times, always clearly structured and of a breathtaking technical superiority. Everything sounds natural and as if technical difficulties were completely unknown to the artist: easy-going, unstressed, unsentimental, with highly dynamic attacks, quick tempi, agogics in the microstructure, in short: always transparent and of admirable musicality.