Naxos Historical 8.111263, 72:37 [Not distributed in the U.S.] ****:
Naxos, by way of producer Mark Obert-Thorn, restores to pristine sound and editing several, seminal inscriptions 1941-1947 by Chilean virtuoso Claudio Arrau (1903-1991), whose technique and temperament always conveyed fluidity and intelligence. The 24 December 1947 recording from Columbia of the Beethoven Third Concerto originally appeared both on 33 1/3 shellacs and later on the new LP format. Arrau brings a fleet athleticism to his first recording of the Beethoven C Minor; some auditors may find Ormandy’s accompaniment strong in the string and brass lines but imaginatively lackluster. Arrau’s terrific trill fills out the cadenza in spades, and the piano tone rings brightly. The Largo fares better on a literalist level, thoughtful, poised, and eminently lyrical. The last movement proves energized, the fugato animated, and Arrau realizing Beethoven’s filigree in alternatively quicksilver and muscular fashion.
I had the distinct pleasure of hearing Arrau perform the Weber Konzertstueck in Atlanta under Robert Shaw, albeit a mite more slowly than in his 13 April 1946 version under Belgian conductor Desire Defauw (1885-1960). So far as recordings of the work go, my preference has been for Robert Casadesus and George Szell, though someone might restore Casadesus’ earlier traversal with Eugene Bigot. Arrau is in virile, pearly form with Defauw, a suppleness the Chicago Symphony meets rhythmically, though some points in orchestral bass definition seem faded. Once the Allegro passionato fireworks begin, they proceed to a startling intensity, lulled only by the grumbling chords prior to the royal march. Arrau plays the feathery cascades much as he executed Liszt, with a pungent leggierissimo second not even to Gieseking.
Arrau’s 20 February 1941 Weber C Major Sonata attends to the composer’s sturm und drang effects, its rather sectionalized structure which plays like a virtuoso impromptu. If someone said the piece was by Hummel, I would not argue, except that the affect is quite hectic. A touch of Mendelssohn in the last two movements, cross fertilized by Weber’s own impetuosity. The finale is the noted Rondo: Presto, perpetual mobile, breathless and kaleidoscopic in the warhorse tradition of Hofmann and Arrau’s own pedagogue, Martin Krause.
— Gary Lemco
