Search - Brahms, Arrau, French Nat'l Orch :: Piano Concerto 2

A great pianist at the height of his powers

jsa | San Diego, CA United States | 01/19/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is not often that you find live recordings of the Brahms second piano concerto, and for good reason. It's one of the most challenging works in the literature - it's long, requires great stamina, and is filled with treacherous passagework that can tax the most athletic of pianists. I recall Maurizio Pollini sweating profusely while playing the Brahms second on a PBS "Great Performances" broadcast a number of years ago....



Claudio Arrau did not start playing the Brahms second until later in his career and while he recorded it twice, in 1962 for EMI and in 1969 for Phillips, neither reading comes close to the 1976 live performance captured here with Igor Markevitch and the Orchestre national de France. By this time Arrau was already seventy-three years old, which might seem to be a disadvantage, yet it is immediately apparent from the opening bars that he still retained the technique essential to this music. While Arrau's overall approach to the concerto is somewhat reflective, he tackles Brahms' gnarly passages with consummate ease, makes the most of the extroverted sections and still has plenty in reserve for the rousing fourth movement which he delivers with thundering authority. This is an inspired performance of epic grandeur from beginning to end, with an unusual level of empathy between Arrau and Markevitch that's evident throughout. The burnished, autumnal sound that had evolved in Arrau's later years is also successfully captured here: his chords have a richness without sounding thick and one is reminded why many critics described the sound he produced as organ-like.



In summary, this is a valuable document of a great pianist at the height of his interpretive powers. Very highly recommended!"