Grieg - Piano Concerto [Luisada/Tilson Thomas -London Symphony Orchestra]I roughly play the Grieg Piano Concerto once a month, i have a nice lot of versions to choose from, about seven i guess, but i'm always on the lookout for more!, i've had this disc for about three years, and it gets its fair share of plays.
The booklet cover photo is a good idea [photo by Suzie Meader], an upright photo, rather than the usual, using a black background either side, gives it a certain feel, Luisada sitting cross legged on the floor in the centre is nice.
Jean-Marc Luisada is Tunisian, born in 1958, he made these recordings in 1993 when he was 35, he is now 52.
Probably my favourite movement of this Concerto, is the middle movement, however playing this today i was struck by the final movement, i find that Luisada is very much in the 'staccato' camp, and there's a tendency to get stuck on certain notes too long, it sounds mannered, sounds like Luisada has got glue on his fingers!, there's a nice middle section in this movement, begun by the flute, with shimmering strings in the background [3:07-3:40], a great introduction to the piano solo that follows [3:40-5:46], a beautiful central Adagio, here Luisada actually plays well, with feeling, he seems more attuned to slow dreamy music than the virtuoso demands elsewhere, the closing section is a forte version of this gentle tune, started by the orchestra [9:31-10:10], but the piano gets some nice solo hits in [10:10-10:19], then the orchestra takes it away to the end, a very satisfying ending, Grieg knows how to pull out all the stops for one final rush.
Here's Thibaudet playing the final movement on YouTube.
