Absolute best performances on 3 of Beethoven's Concertos

Here's the link to purchase:  https://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Concerti-Concerto-Essential-Classics/dp/B000002801?ie=UTF8

Recorded in 1961, Three CD's in the box

Pianist: Leon Fleisher

Conductor; George Szell

w/ the Cleveland Orchestra

Concertos No. 1 and No. 3

Concertos No. 2 and No. 4

Concerto #5 (aka The Emperor) - Triple concerto

Nothing else compares.  Read all the reviews on that link, who also say this is perfection and explain why.  What Beethoven intended.

I personally owned the recording of Piano Concert No. 5 (Emperor) on CBS tape way back when in the 70's, and bought it again on cassette tape when the first one wore out. Then the 2nd tape wore out, too, and I could not find it anywhere. I had to do without for like 15 years (I wrote this in 2003) until not too long ago, doing a search on the web, discovered that it had been reproduced on CD and now owned by Sony. I was elated to get it again.

I have listened to many artists' rendition of The Emperor and they all stink by comparison. Fleisher's playing, along with this orchestra is nothing short of perfection!
His playing skill was phenomenal. Other artists play the piano too slowly, and miss so much of the character of the piece, because many passages need "effect" that Fleisher brings out in his performance. I cry sometimes listening to this because of how excellent it is.

Another critic wrote about the Cleveland Orchestra and Fleisher on piano, saying that they work perfectly together, complementing one another in the most exquisite ways, fully aware of one another, seeming to accent one another at perfect times, and laying back to allow each other their time of expression, also in the perfect way. He was so right in his analysis. This is as good as it gets! Buy it.

Some Background:

Leon Fleisher was a child prodigy on piano and was winning awards and honor, competing against Russian pianists and winning.  His career cut short in 1965 by a strange paralysis in his right arm, which was only worsened as Leon tried harder to make his arm work.  He contemplated suicide, but realized he loved music and did not want that to end.  A medical procedure in 2004 gave him back the use of his right arm.

Here is a very short transcript of the 20-minute interview Charlie Rose of CBS 60-minutes conducted with Fleisher in 2005. 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-tale-of-two-hands/

Then imagine how I felt about this pianist and the recording I had stumbled upon in the 1970s in a bargain box at a music store, and my yearning to obtain it again when it was no longer available, and then the utter amazement of his being interviewed on TV by Charlie Rose...

God was involved in all of this.