Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 3

Viennese pianist Friedrich Wuhrer studied piano with Franz Schmidt and composition with Joseph Marx. Admired by Pfitzner and Reger, who dedicated works to him, Wuhrer had a strong interest in contemporary composers but on disc his major recordings include the first nominally complete cycle of Schubert's piano sonatas and the Beethoven piano concertos. These recordings of Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3 were taped in Stuttgart with conductor Walther Davisson, a distinguished erstwhile violinist, and originally released in 1956. A few years later, during London concerts, a critic wrote of Wuhrer's 'magnificent playing in Beethoven using a tremendous range of dynamics and completely without resort to special effects', qualities that apply equally to these classic Vox recordings.