Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 4 & 5

Wilhelm Kempff was one of the great German pianists of the postwar period, and his two sets of Beethoven sonatas remain a standard by which all others are measured. He was not a flashy artist, nor was he grimly severe. Rather, he practiced a sort of natural eloquence of expression that made his Beethoven one of the most satisfying over the long haul. Individual moments may rarely leap out and grab you, but his performances leave a satisfying impression of completeness, as if no stone has been left unturned. These performances have been highly regarded since the early 1960s, and with good reason. They offer an admirable picture of Kempff as an artist, and the accompaniments are quite fine. --David Hurwitz