Seriously .... do we really need yet another recording of all of Beethoven's Piano Concertos? It depends on many variables. If you've heard these concertos so many times like I have over the years that you can easily replay them at will in your mind then, maybe not. On the other hand if you are fairly new to the music and would like to experience an up-to-the-minute, state-of-the-art performance, yes most certainly. And if you've always admired Garrick Ohlsson's musicianship than yes, definitely.

These recordings took place during Wyoming's annual Grand Teton Music Festival, a summer series of concerts presented in Walk Festival Hall at the base of the Jackson Hole Ski Resort. Located in the heart of Teton Village, Walk Festival Hall is a short drive from the town of Jackson, Wyoming. Like time away from the office, this idyllic setting brings together the best orchestral musicians from various ensembles across North America and Europe, who exchange music and ideas over its two month duration. This relaxed atmosphere combined with the nervous energy of 'live' performances, no doubt makes for ideal music making.

Garrick Ohlsson's long and eminent career as a concert pianist and recording artist has brought him to a level where his playing is clearly articulate, expressively exacting, technically peerless and most of all, free of self-absorbed mannerisms so prevalent within today's classical music scene. The give-and-take exchange between him and the orchestra is perfectly balanced throughout all five concertos. As well, his musical expressiveness always suits the work at hand, be it the Haydn and Mozart classicism of the early concertos, or the more romantic and individualistic ideals of the Fourth and Fifth. And again, unlike so many of today's conductors, Sir Donald Runnicles doesn't attempt to rethink Beethoven's writing and allows the music to speak for itself.

And as always, Reference Recordings present a natural soundscape recording as intimate as it is open. So yes, we actually do need another recording of Beethoven's Piano Concertos.