True to form, Naxos have come up trumps with an imaginative and useful coupling. How often, I wonder, must collectors have wanted a recording of the Triple Concerto but baulked at the prospect of acquiring yet another version of a particular ‘numbered’ Beethoven piano concerto or an umpteenth CD of Brahms’s Double? Naxos’s solution is to couple the Triple with the piano transcription of the Violin Concerto that Beethoven prepared at Clementi’s behest. Comparing the violin and piano alternatives for Op. 61 finds an abundance of decorative material in the keyboard version, nicely turned by Jeno Jando, with plenty of panache in a sizeable cadenza that is better-known nowadays through Schneiderhan’s transcription for the Violin Concerto. Bela Drahos conducts a swift though fairly lyrical accompaniment, lacking only a certain degree of presence among the lower strings (I would have liked just a little more from the cellos at 2'52'' into the orchestral introduction). My vote still goes to the Violin Concerto as we know it, but the piano transcription’s busier, less focused – and dare I say less serene – option is still worth hearing.
Both recordings are pleasingly warm in texture, but I thought the piano rather too closely balanced to the microphones throughout – especially in the solo concerto. The performance of the Triple Concerto is admirably paced, with some nicely expressive playing from Kang and Kliegel. Tossing the odds between this version and the various alternatives marketed at mid price or more seems pointless given the usefulness of the coupling and the exceedingly low price point. Though not a ‘great’ performance of the Triple, it is never less than good and the sound is unlikely to disappoint. Recommended.'