Christopher Grier’s review of this performance of the Beethoven B-flat concerto, which appeared in the Scotsman two days later (September 1st, 1960), stated that ‘the opening Allegro was not especially distinguished, but the slow movement: that was where the spell began to work’. Indeed, hearing this recording for the first time, 46 years later, left me in almost a trance-like state. The first movement is more ‘distinguished’ than Christopher Grier gave it credit for. Certainly there are no shortages of wrong notes, missed notes, tempo rushes, and uneven scales, which must have frustrated the 70 year old pianist (this turned out to be her last performance of the work), but as Ateş Orga puts it in the fascinating booklet-notes, ‘great things… lurk in the shadows’.
Dame Myra Hess spoke of Beethoven as being her “favourite composer, because…
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