BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3 (choice of cadenzas by Moscheles, Alkan, Schulhoff, Ullmann, Rische) • Michael Rische (pn); Marcus Bosch, cond; Deutsches SO Berlin • ARTE NOVA 825860 (61: 19)

As far as I know, nothing is competitive with this release, offering as it does five cadenzas for the Concerto’s first movement, beyond the familiar one by Beethoven, which Rische also plays in the complete performance of the work. Indeed, with many splendid accounts of the score available, it is the alternative cadenzas that may well prove the major attraction for many collectors. As for the Concerto itself, Rische offers a fine middle-of-the-road account, lacking the tension in outer movements that others have projected and the sustained breadth that they have brought to the Largo. But hearing the additional cadenzas should fascinate. Two are from the 19th century: Moscheles’s (once attributed to Brahms) and Alkan’s. The former sticks pretty much to the thematic material of the movement, but with harmonic overlays and progressions that Beethoven would never have favored. The latter throws in a quotation from the finale of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and rambles all over the place for 7:16 before the orchestra returns.

The three remaining cadenzas are in varying degrees unstylish but nonetheless interesting. According to the insert notes, Ullman’s was written for a performance in Theresienstadt two weeks before his death in Auschwitz. But it seems far closer to 19th- than to 20th-century style. Indeed, Rische suggests in his insert notes that it may be the most “traditional” of the lot. As for his own cadenza, Rische notes, “I decided to attempt the balancing act between Beethoven’s thematic material and the clearly recognizable devices of the 20th century.” As all this should suggest, it would be foolish to incorporate any of these five cadenzas in any performance of the concerto, live or recorded. But each in its own way provides a fascinating example of improvisation. For that alone this release may well prove attractive. The return of the orchestra is included in each example. Excellent sound throughout.

FANFARE: Mortimer H. Frank