Search - Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, Wilhelm Kempff :: Wilhelm Kempff I (Great Pianists of the 20th Century) Brahms, Schuman

Wilhelm Kempff I (Great Pianists of the 20th Century) Brahms, Schuman
Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, Wilhelm Kempff
Wilhelm Kempff I (Great Pianists of the 20th Century) Brahms, Schuman
Genre: Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (21) - Disc #1
  •  Track Listings (20) - Disc #2

Few pianists on record convey quite the impression of actually composing the music while they perform it that sets Wilhelm Kempff's artistry apart. This quality may owe something to his gift as an improviser (Kempff had al...  more »

     
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Amazon.com
Few pianists on record convey quite the impression of actually composing the music while they perform it that sets Wilhelm Kempff's artistry apart. This quality may owe something to his gift as an improviser (Kempff had also received early training as an organist); but it most obviously stems from an intuitive power to identify and state--with remarkable purity of expression and singing grace--the essence of a work. The recordings gathered in this set (the first of three in the Philips series, chosen by no less an authority than Alfred Brendel) were made in the '50s and present Kempff's nearly oracular stature as an exponent of Brahms and Schumann. (His equally legendary Beethoven and Liszt are some of the subjects of the second volume in the Kempff series.) The late Brahms pieces in particular still seem a revelation. Kempff distills the hard-won spiritual calm of the first Op. 117 intermezzo, for example, with an almost unbearably self-effacing intimacy. Listen to the spacing of silence within the slowly ascending arpeggio that concludes Op. 116, no. 6, for a taste of Kempff's profound musicality. In Kreisleriana, playful caprice and a profound inwardness are each given breathing room, while Kempff all the while cleanly articulates the polyphonic rigor that Schumann weaves into his oscillating fantasy (the account here makes a fascinating comparison with Horowitz's own marvelous interpretation from late in his career). Kempff's great achievement is to bring you face to face with a composer--and these encounters above all will reward you with each listen. --Thomas May
 

CD Reviews

An Op. 118 for the ages!
HMannyF@aol.com | USA | 11/17/1998
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Kempff is a well known name among Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann lovers and this 2cd set contains some very fine Schumann playing. But the lion's share of space on these discs is given to Brahms, and there isn't a wasted millisecond anywhere. As for the Op.118, (six pieces that include 4 Intermezzi, a Romance and a Ballade), it would be impossible, in this space, to do the playing justice. I thought I knew the Op.118 well - I was mistaken. Kempff plays with such poetry and grace that I found myself wondering if this was not Brahms' finest Opus after all. What stuns is the refined elegance of the playing that sacrifices nothing to the intense ardour of these pieces. Kempff has always been more powerful than one realizes on first hearing and that is due to his unequalled (to my ears) touch and his instinct for sounding the poetry without sacrificing the form. If these recordings, which date from the 50s, are superior to his DG remakes from the 60s, it is because of the stark beauty of the phrasing. And the sound, be assured, is excellent; Philips has done a flawless remastering job. When you get your hands on these discs, (Vol. 55 in the ongoing Philips' series of "Great Pianists of the 20th Century"), stop whatever you're doing and go straight to Op.118 for a rife glimpse of Brahms' soul."