Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2

Johannes Brahms (Composer), George Szell (Conductor), Cleveland Orchestra (Orchestra), Rudolf Serkin (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Rudolf Serkin
• Orchestra: Cleveland Orchestra
• Conductor: George Szell
• Composer: Johannes Brahms
• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000025MQ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #263,835 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this one and Gilels' too, July 18, 2005

By 

Paul Sluis (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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

This concerto is simply the greatest work of its genre, so there is room for more than one way to interpret it. Serkin and Szell serve this Brahms flambé, with a pedal-to-the-metal reading that maximizes the impact and power of the work as no other performance does. No, they don't match the Gilels/Jochum CD's nuance and poetry. Nobody does. But in the second movement, even Gilels--in fact, even the more sprightly Gilels/Reiner performance--sounds like "allegro milktoast" compared to this one.

For almost everyone interested in Brahms, this recording is a "must." Serious collectors will prize its distinctiveness and vitality; newcomers will find no better introduction to Brahms than a performance that is as far from boring as great playing gets. Audiophiles, however, will disdain the Columbia sound, which even in the 1960s might have been clearer and cleaner.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must have for any top 10 to take with you on a desert Island, June 13, 2010

By 

D. Spokane - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Audio CD)

Okay, let's cut to the chase? Like Brahms? Like Piano Concerto's then hands down you have to own this recording!!!!
Is it old yes. But it is hands down the definitive recording of this remarkable piece of music. Rudolph Serkin was one of the most brilliant pianists of the 20th century and was in fact for many years associated with this piece of music.
Szell was one of the great orchetra builders of his time like Reiner in Chicago.

This Piano Concerto is arguably one of the greatest written in its genre. Very unique in that Brahms does not treat the Piano as simply a solo instrument to show off the virtuousity of the solist although there are plenty of passeges in this piece that do that. Rather Brahms creates a concerto where the orchestra and Piano are equals.
They play with one another. It is really a symphony in scale and magnitude. One does not overshadow the other.

No other concerto does this. The effect is unbelievable. If you are on a desert insland and can only take 10 records with you, assuming they are all classical, this is one of them!!!!

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars maestro 14, October 17, 2008

By 

Anshel Brusilow - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Audio CD)

This recording is the best of both worlds. Serkin and then Szell. Together they represent the ultimate interpretation of Brahms. To pick one movement over another would be extremely difficult, but hearing the 3rd movement by these two artists is worth the price and more.