If they are reissuing this, I would personally prefer a much smaller package.
Any differences compared to the earlier surround release?
Few artists have a deeper understanding of the music of Beethoven than the celebrated Dutch conductor, who is known for his mastery of the great symphonic repertoire. This album focuses on Haitink&apos;s interpretations of Beethoven&apos;s concerto writing, coupling a new recording of Piano Concerto No 2 by Maria João Pires with a virtuosic performance of the Triple Concerto by Lars Vogt, Gordan Nikolitch and Tim Hugh, which was originally made alongside Haitink&apos;s now iconic cycle of the composer&apos;s complete symphonies.
It is as well to be aware that this is a compilation of old recordings that have not been released before and as such came as huge disappointment. The Piano Concerto was recorded in 2013, the Triple Concerto in 2008. Both were recorded in DSD 64fs and show their age in terms of recording quality with narrow soundstage, somewhat flat acoustics and poor dynamic range suggesting some alteration of levels during editing.
At times in the Triple Concerto the soloists seem to be sitting in the same position; the violin component is much quieter than the cello whilst the piano is over-dominant. Pires performance is typically assured and polished from this &apos;veteran&apos; soloists but not outstanding in any way.
All in all and my sincerest apologies to LSO Live for this negativity but this is not good enough as a &apos;special&apos; when clearly the performances or recordings when originally made were presumably not considered good enough to release at their respective times.