There’s something so inviting about this second installment in Leif Ove Andsnes’ Beethoven Piano Concertos cycle, as if the pianist/director and ever-so-sympatico Mahler Chamber Orchestra are offering a sparklingly restored heritage hotel, blazing fireplace and all, to the cold and weary musical traveller. 

The engaging moods of Beethoven’s Concertos can claim some credit in themselves, but just as in the critically acclaimed previous recording of One and Three by the same players, it’s the lack of hang-ups and a maximum of good-vibes that makes you want to be best friends with these performances, right from the opening ritornello of No. Two that takes off with a smile on its face. 

Andsnes himself then brings all the enthusiasm and attention to detail of the perfect dinner-host. And it’s a well-balanced meal being served up, always lyrical, with the slow movements in particular achieving an extraordinary balance between lightness of touch, profundity of meaning, depth of emotion and sheer take-your-breath-away beauty. 

In the outer movements, the melodies extend the view toward the musical horizons, and yet every moment in its own right seems so filled with musical detail, the diversity of instrumental colours and the shifting points of focus constantly prompting the “hey listen to this bit, now this bit” response. Yet for all its layers of musical sophistication satisfying the most probing of musical intellects, it’s still perfectly pleasant as background music, because it’s unpretentious and has a lovely shimmer to its recorded sound. But there’s still a wow-factor, starting right in on the cadenza near the end of the first movement of No. Four, surely one of the most compelling ever captured on disc. 

Marketed as part of ‘The Beethoven Journey’ that features not just recordings but concert performances and an accompanying education programme, this is quite simply a beautiful disc that can be both admired and loved.