BEETHOVEN, L. van: Piano Concerto No. 1 (Gieseking, Philharmonia, Kubelik) (1948) / Piano Concerto No. 5 (Gieseking, Berlin Radio, Rother) (1945)

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Beethoven may not be the first composer who comes to mind when one thinks of Walter Gieseking, but his music held a significant place in Gieseking’s life. In 1931, when Gieseking started his long association with Columbia Records, the first piece he chose to record for them was Beethoven’s “Tempest” Sonata. Within the same decade he made his first recordings of the Beethoven First, Fourth, and Fifth Concertos. He knew all 32 Beethoven Sonatas by memory before the age of 20. Over the course of his career he recorded 23 of the Beethoven piano sonatas for Columbia. Plans were underway to record the entire cycle of 32, but his untimely death on October 26, 1956 left the project incomplete. This release features the Concertos Nos. 1 and 5. In addition to offering brilliant performances by Gieseking, this issue represents the only complete recording of a classical work in stereo surviving from the WWII era. The recordings were digitally re-mastered in 2004 by Aaron Z. Snyder.