Johannes Brahms - Piano Concertos; Fantasias (Emil Gilels; Eugen Jochum)

Information

Composer: Johannes Brahms

CD1:

• (01-03) Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15

CD2:

• (01-04) Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 83
• (05-11) Fantasias (7 Piano Pieces), Op. 116

Emil Gilels, piano
Ottomar Borwitzky, cello (Op. 83)
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Eugen Jochum, conductor

Date: 1972 (Concertos), 1975 (Fantasias)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/cat/4474462

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Review

Gilels is magisterial in these concertos, his playing volcanic and poetic at the same time. The approach is warmly expressive though not overly sentimental, the interpretations serious but never dry. The Russian pianist delivers playing that is manly, powerful and impassioned where the writing calls for it, and can be gentle and rhapsodic where appropriate. He is in riveting control of his tone and seems unafraid to sing, which Rudolf Serkin was almost flatly unable to do in the same music.

Eugen Jochum and the Berlin Philharmonic add considerable weight and grandeur of their own to the undertaking. In both accounts they manage to span Brahms’s long developmental arches with convincing sureness, giving the musical argument the feeling of a single impulse. Gilels gets his share of wrong notes (especially in No. 2), but when he plays there is never any fooling around – no doldrums, no pushing or dragging. The orchestra, too, though not always immaculate, plays at fever pitch from the first bar to the last. The bottom line is that in spite of the flaws one would look in vain to find more inspired accounts of these concertos. Within the warm ambience of Berlin’s Jesus-Christus-Kirche, where both concertos were recorded in June of 1972, the engineers do a good job of capturing the pianist’s ringing tone.

– Ted Libbey, author of The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection

More reviews:
http://www.classical-music.com/review/brahms-128
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2012/Feb12/Brahms_PCs_MH2K63225_4474462.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Brahms-The-Piano-Concertos-Fantasia/dp/B000001GQY

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Johannes Brahms (7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer and pianist. In his lifetime, Brahms's popularity and influence were considerable. Brahms composed for symphony orchestra, chamber ensembles, piano, organ, and voice and chorus. Many of his works have become staples of the modern concert repertoire. An uncompromising perfectionist, Brahms destroyed some of his works and left others unpublished. Brahms is often considered both a traditionalist and an innovator. His music is firmly rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of the Classical masters, with a highly romantic nature embedded within.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Brahms

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Emil Gilels (October 19, 1916 – October 14, 1985) was a Soviet pianist, widely regarded one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. Gilels studied at the Odessa Conservatory with Bertha Reingbald, whom he regarded as his true teacher, mentor and lifelong friend. Gilels is universally admired for his superb technical control and burnished tone. His interpretations of the German-Austrian classics formed the core of his extensive repertoire, which range from from Baroque to late Romantic and 20th century. He also performed and recorded chamber music with Leonid Kogan, Mstislav Rostropovich and his daughter Elena.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Gilels

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