Barber: Piano Concerto; Bartók: PIano Concerto No 3 | Album Review

The adaptable Keith Jarrett is on record questioning classical players’ concept of pulse.

“Okay, there are a few exceptions,” he once said, “but everything is usually subordinated to phrasing.”

In these live recordings from the mid-1980s, issued to celebrate the pianist’s 70th birthday, Jarrett’s instinct leads him to play straight where other pianists might flex.

The head-on results are often invigorating and only rarely sound unyielding, as in the slow movement of the Barber.

The orchestra in the Barber can sound rough, but the sense of a live event is always immediate. Jarrett’s improvised, solo encore from Japan is also included.

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