In the final batch of our year’s roundup, we take another look at the most recently released recordings on ECM, the last ones of 2024. In October, Tord Gustavsen’s new album Seeing saw the light of day, presenting a new chapter in his series of […]
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After a first appearance on ECM’s New Series with premiere recordings of Israeli composer Gideon Lewensohn’s works on Odradek (2002), two subsequent solo recitals plus a duo programme with violinist Caroline Widmann (2012), here pianist Alexander Lonquich, alongside the Münchener Kammerorchester, rises to a more extensive challenge, in performing the entirety of Beethoven’s piano concertos, programmed in chronological order. The pivotal works document the composer’s development over two decades, rendered in striking interpretations here.
Beethoven Piano Concertos
“The music has the dash and the unabashed lyricism of Keith Jarrett’s best work,” wrote Stereophile in 1994 of At The Deer Head Inn, the first selection of material from the pianist’s spontaneous and in retrospect historic return to the Pennsylvanian venue of his early years. Gramophone spoke of “spellbinding” playing, and the Los Angeles Times hailed “a compendium of grace”. All attributes applicable also to this edition, featuring eight previously unreleased performances, which dives deeply into the magic of this special event, a one-night-only coming together of a Jarrett trio with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian. Keith Jarrett: “It was like a reunion and a jam session at the same time.”
The Old Country
The independent record label ECM – Edition of Contemporary Music – was founded by producer Manfred Eicher in 1969, and to date has issued more than 1800 albums spanning many idioms.
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