Beethoven: Piano Concert No. 5: Emperor Concerto / Klavierkonzert Nr. 5 / Choral Fantasy
This is high calibre music-making and well recorded at that. Brendel plays with élan and sensitivity. His partner in crime, Bernard Haitink, sheds his usual sobriety to catalyse an edge-of-the-seats response from the Londoners. The opening movement rollicks with the best. Like any great Emperor, there is a background stillness to the slow movement. The Choral Fantasy is aptly shaped and performed with the requisite degree of fun.