Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Piano Concerto No 2 in B-flat major, Op 19 (1794)
Egmont Overture, Op 84 (1809)
Piano Concerto No 3 in C minor, Op 37 (1802-3)
Niklas Sivelöv (piano)
Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá/Joachim Gustafsson
rec. live, October 2023, Auditorio Leon de Greiff, Bogotá, Colombia
Amchara Classical AMC017 [75]

If the universal communicative power of music were ever in doubt; take a Swedish conductor/violinist alongside a Swedish pianist/composer, add a less well-known South American orchestra and record three cornerstone works of the Western Classical music repertoire. The fact that the results are as enjoyable and impressive as they are here is a tribute to the quality of modern-day music-making worldwide. Conductor Joachim Gustafsson is joined by compatriot Niklas Sivelöv in the second volume of a complete survey of Beethoven’s piano concerti. The orchestra is the main classical ensemble of Colombia’s capital city; the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá – Gustafsson has been their Music Director since 2021. As regular visitors to MWI might know, I am something of an admirer of the music and performers from South America. No surprise then to report that the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá play very well indeed – if anyone had a concern that in some way the playing might be unidiomatic or technically compromised this could not be further from the truth. The playing throughout this disc is alert, skilled, sensitive and wholly idiomatic so the listener can focus on the interpretative choices made. The very opening orchestral tutti of the Piano Concerto No.2 in B flat major Op.19 immediately shows just how well prepared and skilled this ensemble is – well judged in terms of tempo and ensemble and very well caught by the Amchara Classical engineers. The balance between ensemble and solo keyboard is perfectly judged and the scale of the performance ideally conveyed.

I have not heard the earlier volume which comprised the 4^th concerto plus the relative rarity of the composer’s own keyboard version of the Violin Concerto. Here we have the standard, but generous, coupling of the 2^nd and 3^rd concerti with the Egmont Overture an attractive bonus. Pianist Niklas Sivelöv has an extended discography alongside an impressive catalogue as a composer – his website lists some 32 recordings of diverse repertoire and 6 Symphonies, 6 piano concerti and 4 string quartets as just a few of his own compositions. Elsewhere on the same website there is a very good video of a live concert relay of the exact same music as presented on this disc. This is not the same performance as offered on the disc but it is all but identical in style and interpretation.

The style chosen by Gustafsson and Sivelöv is modern instrument based but heavily influenced by Histroically Informed Performance practices. For the orchestra this means significantly reduced string strength with antiphonal violins, classical phrasing and minimal vibrato, the timpani in the third concerto sound as though they use hard sticks and generally all of the orchestral textures are kept light and airy. Although the instrument Sivelöv uses is a Steinway, reduced pedalling and a lighter touch keep the keyboard textures exceptionally clean and articulate. So skilfully does Sivelöv control this that more than once I did wonder if he was playing on a period reproduction rather than a modern concert grand. Additionally and alongside this technical aspect of his playing, Sivelöv favours an interpretative approach that is emotionally cool and objective. This of course reflects Beethoven’s debt in these earlier piano concerti to Mozart. The dividends are performances of unaffected beauty allied to clarity which pays especial dividends in the two central slow movements. I enjoyed the simple directness of Sivelöv’s approach although other players have found a gentler hushed wonder here. The quality of the orchestral accompaniment in these movements is once again genuinely striking. My only observation is that both finales loose an element of playfulness and wit with the rhythms having a clockwork accuracy that while admirable underplays the bubbling good-nature of the music. But there is no doubting the skill and precision of the chosen style.

One passing curiosity given this HIP-influenced approach; in the second concerto first movement cadenza, Sivelöv chooses to play his own composed cadenza as opposed to the more familiar one by Beethoven. Nothing untoward per se about that except that Sivelöv’s version is stylistically somewhat different from the rest of the interpretative choices. For the third concerto Sivelöv does play the ‘usual’ Beethoven cadenza. Sadly, the less than adequate liner note makes no reference to this departure from the norm – clearly Sivelöv will have considered and carefully judged reasons for providing his own cadenza but neither the liner of anything online seems to be forthcoming about this.

For listeners who enjoy the balance to be found in modern instrument performances in a historically aware manner these are genuinely fine performances – very well played and interpretatively convincing. My own personal preference is for a performance which looks ahead to the dawn of the Romantic Age rather than back to the end of the Classical, but in no way does that opinion diminish the value of these versions. The addition of a bracing Egmont Overture is an attractive if not wholly necessary bonus. The same HIP-aware practices are followed with a string strength of 10.8.7.5.4 (present on the video so presumably the same at the recording sessions) representing a decent Chamber-sized Orchestra as opposed to Symphony Orchestra scale. The liner does include the full playing strength of the orchestra listing 15 first violins and equivalent other sections. The result of this mid-scale group is an opening gesture that does not aim for the kind of impact that older-style large orchestras achieve. But as ever with this approach, weight is traded for nimble, alert and wonderfully articulate playing. Both here and in the concerti Gustafsson allows the music to phrase naturally and without artifice. In this he is supported by playing of real sensitivity and no little sophistication. If the opening trades power for precision the closing pages achieve genuine dynamic excitement with the rotary valve trumpets cutting through with thrilling effect. Again, do dip into the YouTube concert video for just how well played this is – Egmont opens the concert.

Interesting to note from the video just how warmly and enthusiastically this concert was received by a near capacity audience in the modern, attractive (visually and acoustically) Auditorio Leon de Greiff. Clearly music is thriving in Bogotá and under the inspiring direction of Joachim Gustafsson, I can only imagine that the international profile of the orchestra will deservedly increase. In its own right this is an enjoyable, indeed impressive disc. Individual listeners will need to decide for themselves if they respond to Sivelöv’s intellectual, possibly slightly severe approach. Certainly worth hearing.

Nick Barnard