Beethoven Piano Concertos 1 & 5 “Emperor”

Eugene Albulescu, piano & conductor

AMP Recordings is excited to celebrate Beethoven’s 250th birthday with the upcoming release of Beethoven Piano Concertos 1 & 5 “Emperor.”

This is the first AMP Recordings release for Eugene Albulescu, who leads the ensemble from the piano keyboard as both soloist and conductor.

These vibrant yet elegant performances reveal Eugene Albulescu’s deep understanding of the scores’ architecture. Drawing on a richly variegated technique honed over the years as a distinguished pianist and internationally lauded conductor, Mr. Albulescu teases out the nuances of these two brilliant concertos, and achieves a heightened sense of Beethoven’s musical intent.

Albulescu performs with an “orchestra of friends,” a group of musicians and friends that he has conducted and performed with over the years.  Through their time playing together, they have come to know each other quite well musically, resulting in a performance that is “attentive to Beethoven’s pungent rhythms and variety of dynamics, enhancing the music’s impact.” “There is never a sense of routine. Rather the atmosphere is one a mutual journey of discovery*”

*Ken Meltzer, Fanfare Magazine

Beethoven's Music of Optimism

Performing and Conducting an Orchestra of Friends

Reviews:

“…clarity of articulation is fully in place, as is Albulescu’s directness and unsentimentality (there’s no giving way to soppy sentimentality here) and he also invests the music with energy, focus and momentum.”

— Erica Worth, Pianist Magazine

“…Mr. Albulescu’s general approach to his part as soloist, which was, to my ears, to restore some of the radical quality to the music… It shows that he has deeply considered where the important musical events are, and how one can stand out as soloist, while filling the dual role as conductor.”

— Franklin Daykin, New York Concert Review

“Mr. Albulescu is a real talent. His piano playing is fabulous, and his leadership of this chamber orchestra is assured and at all times superbly musical. The life and joy he brings to these concertos is refreshing.”

–David Rowe, David’s Classical CDs

“The results of this collaboration are highly satisfying. Albulescu’s performances as soloist are of a very high level, of a kind that would be welcome in the world’s most prestigious concert halls. Albulescu’s technical facility is beyond reproach. He plays Beethoven’s solo writing with the utmost precision and clarity. He has a marvelous ear for gradations of dynamics, and his phrasing is notable for its keen articulation and flexibility.”

— Ken Meltzer, Fanfare

“This new pairing of Beethoven’s First and “Emperor” Concertos is a healthy, and delightful, reminder of what’s happening in the real world of music. By any measure Eugene Albulescu is a splendid pianist whose musicianship rivals anything I’ve heard in this Beethoven year.”

— Huntley Dent, Fanfare

Albulescu’s “Emperor” is not just regal, it’s empyrean. It not only has the gravitas of pomp and circumstance, but also an elevated feeling of the empyrean.”

– Jerry Dubins, Fanfare

Listen:

Track Listing:

Piano Concerto No. 1, op. 15

  1. Allegro con brio
  2. Largo
  3. Rondo: Allegro

Piano Concerto No. 5, op. 73 “Emperor”

  1. Allegro
  2. Adagio un poco moto
  3. Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo

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