Customer Reviews

Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 / Piano Sonata No. 1

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the greatest recording, or performance, of any piece of music I have heard in my 60 years of life. To begin with, the music is beyond comprehension in its greatness. But, Richter and Leinsdorf and the CSO connected in a once-in-a-lifetime partnership that occurred only by accident (Reiner's illness).

Richter played this ideally, giving Brahms' passionate soul and classical mind equal weight. He didn't dawdle like many recent pianists do. He brought Russian passion to the score, but held on to the Germanic depth of feeling and substance. I give great credit to Leinsdorf, a normally underwhelming conductor. He seized the romantic impulses in the music and plunged ahead with full force, not afraid to let the brass have their say along with the deep strings, creating a richness of sound unequaled in any other version of this work that I've heard.

This performance is ideal for people who see this work as essentially symphonic, rather than a vehicle for solo showiness. Richter complies with an interpretation both powerful and fleet of foot ( a rare combination), without losing the many subtleties in the score. In other words, he performed it the way people tended to in the 1880s, rather than the 1980s, when every note was separated and examined under a microscope. The pianist and conductor see this as one piece of music, not thousands of notes collected together.

The new remastering is, well, masterful. The original recording was impressive sonically, especially in the midrange, and the new 24 bit remastering brings this out magnificently (and quietly), perfectly complementing the performances of Richter, Leinsdorf, and the CSO.

This is not a performance for everyone. If you like your Brahms interpretted as if he were Mozart, or Tchaikovsky, this will either be too powerful or too fast for your taste. If you like your Brahms to continue on the path that Beethoven opened up, this is nonpareil in every respect.

Near the end of his life (30 years after the fact), Richter disavowed this performance. He complained that Leinsdorf pushed the pace too quickly. This is not the first case of a great artist (the greatest pianist we have on record, in my opinion), revising his early ideals as age caught up to him. Artists have often shown throughout the centuries, that they are not the best critics. I think that history will prove Richter's, and Leinsdorf's, initial instincts correct, as I have thought and felt since my first hearing of this amazing record in 1961.

This famous recording of the Brahms Second with Richter used to be unrivaled and still stands at the top of the field. Richter possesses so much power and authority, yet can be so restrained and mysterious when he wants, that no one quite challenges him. In memory he barnstormed more than he actually does here; Pollini and Barenboim are almost as virtuosic. Even after forty years, however, there are moments when no one can phrase like him--Richter seems to think in paragraphs, not single passages--and he remains the only pianist who makes you believe this incredibly challenging work is easy to play. (At 44 min. this is also one of the fastest Brahms Seconds on CD.)

The weakness of this recording is two-fold. The recorded sound is a bit brittle and thin (now coniserably improved in RCA's current remastering). Richter isn't given the gorgeous sonority one hears from Pollini on DG with Abbado (particulary their 1995 remake in digital sound). And Leinsdorf, if better than his usual literal self, at times seems to impede what Richter wants to do. They open the first movement in different worlds, but after that, Leinsdorf manages to gather enough momentum to keep up with his soloist. One wonders how unleashed Richter would have been if the shceduled conductor (I think it was Reiner) hadn't bowed out.

Those two drawbacks aside, this superb CD will never go out of print. As you listen to Richter so totally dominate the closing pages, you feel glad about that--every future improvement in sound will make the performance more alive. The coupling is his equally acclaimed performance of Brahms's youthful First Sonata, in all its rambling glory. The pianist was much older, in his early seventies, when this live account from 1988 was captured. The piano sound is a bit too clangy and brittle, but in this repertoire Richter was competing only with himself.

This is a budget-priced reissue and remastering of what I've read was long the dominant recording of what's come to be one of my favorite piano concertos. Russian pianist Richter recorded this in 1960 during his first American tour; he recorded the early sonata almost thirty years later in Germany.

Richter's performance of the concerto definitely sounds fleeter than what I'm used to; this seemed like it was over in no time! I had to check his timing of the first movement against that of the other two recordings I have: Richter/Leinsdorf 16:43, Gilels/Jochum 18:22, Cliburn/Reiner 17:49. Total time: Richter/Leinsdorf 46:46, Gilels/Jochum 51:44, Cliburn/Reiner 48:21. In any case, Richter's pianism is alternatingly brawny and delicate with fine phrasing and judgement of shifting dynamics. The meltingly beautiful andante third movement is also played somewhat swiftly, but Richter's quiet, introspective probing in conjunction with the cello solo from the orchestra is a paragon of pianistic poetry, though it didn't make my dry eyes well up as Gilels' did. The recorded sound is just fine, but could never be mistaken for a modern recording.

I would like to draw reader's attention to the fact that BMG did not do such a great job with this recording after all - and that their job is not that astounding.

It is mired by spot compression here and there. To wit: The climaxes of piano and orchestra in full tilt is reduced to a mezzo-forte. This is very obvious on the first movement "climb to peak" when the soloist is getting the run and the orchestra keeps with its tempo - there the sound become diluted, recessed, small, almost tiny in size - the sound-stage collapses, the piano loos its grandeur, weight - and together with the orchestra they become (size and depth wise) something that will fit a small Walkman earphone music.

In that regard the original shaded-dog Living Stereo was much better. We deserve a better transfer to CD of this magnificent performance - a much better job than this one.

As a point of interest, the Decca recording with Backhaus/Bohm/VPO is superior where stage stability is concerned, where piano tone is concerned and where total picture on soloist and orchestra is concerned (Decca was and is the champion of capturing piano tone). True, Richter seems like possessing a more flexible technique but Backhaus has the wisdom of old age on his side when he tackles this monumental oeuvre.

In any event: serious students of this concerto should have at least three versions of this at their disposal: The Richter, the Backhaus (not the Australian version which is inferior in sound to the original Decca), and possibly the Giles if not the Arrau.

I was shocked when I first heard this performance of the Brahms Bb major. I had been buying recordings of the piece like they were going out of style but when I heard Richter/Leinsdorf/CSO, it was like I was finally hearing the piece the way that I heard it inside my head. For starters, Richter is ridiculous. His chops are way above anything I have every heard from anyone else and his sound puts his vaunted colleague Gilels to shame. Leinsdorf brings an incredible sheen to the orchestra and balance that delivers a nearly perfect performance. And, of course, the CSO just can't be outplayed PERIOD. THIS is the one to own.

I am not going to review Richter's playing, he is the master.

But if you are thinking of buying this disk, think about Brahms: Concerto No.2/Beethoven: Sonata No.23

same concert but better sound as is not so much filtered. The only change is the Sonata at the end, you'll get Beethoven's Appasionata

in the other disk.

Brahms' 2nd Piano Concerto in B-Flat, Op. 83 is one of the more popular concertos played in the classical music world. Sviatoslav Richter and this performance should immediately comes to mind when considering this masterful concerto. Although Gilels is known to have said "Wait till you hear Richter", I believe Gilels interpretation of the this concerto with Eugen Jochum is the definitive recording of the work. The performance awarded a Grammy, Richter was not particularly thrilled with the performance. The cd also features a much less popular work in that of the first Brahms Sonata. This extremely underrated Sonata is amazingly played by Richter, and ranks among the best performances, along with those who specialized in Brahms such as Julius Katchen.

I feel Richter plays too fast in the opening movement. The beauty of the piece is lost for me. I do want passion and power in my Brahms but not at break-neck speed. This fastness in playing results in loss of expression and depth. Richter expressed this towards the end of his life. For me, the ideal version of Brahms no. 2 is Backhaus and Bohm on Decca Legends (1967) - listen to the glorious sound of the Bosendorfer piano on that one. oh wow! Listen to the gorgeous slow andante 3rd movement with cello. Bohm's accompaniment is phenomenal and the balance between piano and orchestra is golden. I never tire of that one.

Hey P. Dave "pranav23. Saw your three-star review of this recording. The "I'm not the only one who feels this way." caught me. Didn't see anyone else who "feels" the way you do. This one is top knotch. I "feel" that way.