Johannes Brahms - Piano Sonata No. 3; Handel Variations (Jonathan Plowright)

Information

Composer: Johannes Brahms

• (01)      Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5: I. Allegro maestoso
• (02)      Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5: II. Andante espressivo
• (03)      Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5: III. Scherzo. Allegro energico
• (04)      Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5: IV. Intermezzo (Rückblick). Andante molto
• (05)      Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5: V. Finale. Allegro moderato ma rubato
• (06-32)Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24

Jonathan Plowright, piano
Date: 2012
Label: BIS
http://bis.se/performers/plowright-jonathan/brahms-piano-works

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Review

Former Fulbright Scholar Plowright with Brahms on BIS

For many pianists there is a long-standing ambition to record a particular composer. For Mitsuko Uchida it was the complete Mozart piano concertos; for Jonathan Plowright it is the complete piano music of Brahms, and I very much hope that his wonderful new disc of the Third Sonata and the Handel Variations is the launch of a cycle.

Plowright recorded the F minor Sonata some years ago for the short-lived Kingdom label (10/90) but here on BIS he far excels that fine earlier account. His warmth and sincerity combine with a superbly assured and powerful technique to create one of the finest performances on record (even when compared with the likes of Curzon and Lupu) and in both the slow movements (where in the first ‘two hearts unite in love, / And embrace in rapture’) he plays with an unforgettable sense of the ineffable, his slow tempi in music marked andante sustained with rare beauty and concentration. Elsewhere, in the finale’s closing pages (which supremely contradict Hugo Wolf’s odd assertion, ‘Brahms cannot exult’) and in the Scherzo – a true dance of the gods – his performance is eloquent and direct, quite without impediment or undue idiosyncrasy yet musical to the core.

His Handel Variations, too, are subtly and economically inflected, never searching for easy glamour or effect, with a brisk hand taken to the music-box chimes of Var 22, a formidable command in Vars 4 and 14 and a thoughtful, communing way with Var 5. One could hardly wish for more and I can scarcely wait for further volumes from this pianist, adding that both the piano concertos positively cry out for his attention.

-- Bryce Morrison, Gramophone

More reviews:
BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: **** / RECORDING: *****
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/June13/Brahms_sonatas_BIS2047.htm
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jan/13/jonathan-plowright-brahms-handel-review
http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/Review/344188,brahms-piano-sonata-no-3-handel-variations-plowright.aspx

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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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Jonathan Plowright (born 1959 in Yorkshire) is a British concert pianist. He studied with Alexander Kelly at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and with Julio Esteban at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. His USA debut was at Carnegie Hall in 1984, followed by his UK debut in 1985, at Wigmore Hall. Plowright performed worldwide as recitalist, appeared with leading orchestras and ensembles, made many commercial recordings and appeared on radio and TV broadcasts. He championed neglected music from Polish Romantic composers, Stojowski, Paderewski and Melcer, which he has recorded for Hyperion Records.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Plowright

http://www.jonathanplowright.com/

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