Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2

Johannes Brahms (Artist), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Artist), Maurizio Pollini (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 14, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B000001GZ2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #83,169 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW!, December 8, 1999

By 

Roger Townsend (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Audio CD)

This is unbelivably good. I have heard this concerto many times live, on record, on tape, on the radio, and on disc. I have never heard it performed this well. My favorite performance had been Pollini's with Abbado in the late 1970s (maybe early 1980s). This surpasses it in every way, which I would not have believed possible. Pollini's technique is perfect. His and Abbado's interpretation, nuances, shading and dynamics could not be better. The orchestra balances the piano just as Brahms always intended. And then there's the sound quality: as acoustically superb as I have ever heard on any disc. This is truly one of the all-time great classical recordings. Do not miss it.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pollini - the greatest exponent of Brahms' music, October 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Audio CD)

This recording of the Brahms B Flat major concerto is, to my knowledge, the greatest ever captured in the recording history. Pollini is in his usual aristocratic form. But this is only one aspect of his musicianship. His brilliant mastery of the intellectual complexity and emotional intensity of this formidable work are without equal, and all delivered technically flawlessly. Pollini recorded this piece twice with Abbado, the earlier 1977 version is with the Vienna Philharmonic. I find the 1995 live recording to be superior in having greater definition for the different moods and clearer phrasal articulation; and the cello solo projected the melodic line more fluidly and prominently, as it should be. Pollini's October 3rd, 2000 performance of the same piece with the Cleveland Orchestra at Carnegie Hall re-affirmed his exceptional musicianship and technique. Contrary to some, I find "coldness" does not exist in Pollini's piano vocabulary, and in my opinion, he is the greatest pianist of all times and this Brahms recording is a testimony to it. It deserves 6 stars.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Majestic, May 21, 2001

By 

"just_porter" (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Audio CD)

Maurizio Pollini shines in this majestic recording of the concerto. I consider this work to be one of Brahms finest and own many recordings of it. However, I have found that the sound and quality of this recording beats ALL of them. This recording is highly recommended to all music lovers. This recording should be one of the cornerstones of anybody's music collection.