Search - Johannes Brahms, Idil Biret :: Brahms: Intermezzi, Op. 117; Piano Pieces, Opp. 118 & 119; Scherzo, Op. 4

Idil Biret: Unsung Hero of Current Classical Music...

Sébastien Melmoth | Hôtel d'Alsace, PARIS | 01/04/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

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The wonderful pianist Idil Biret has through indefatigable work amassed a great oeuvre of recordings on Naxos: the complete Chopin and Brahms: not only is it a large and respectable body of work, but moreover it is an artistically excellent aesthetically and techinically superior set.



Biret was Kempff's last and most vital pupil--(she also studied with Cortot and Backhaus). She has her own innate technical skill, and she caught Kempff's vision of musical architechtonics. Her timing is exquisite: steady, but crisp and sharp.



Look at it: who else has recorded all Chopin's and Brahms' [piano] works with modern sonics and techne? Biret's work is really an outstanding achievement.



NOTE: Of especial interest too is an :11min reading of Brahms' rarely-heard Op. 4 Scherzo (1851) in the remote key of eb-minor wherein Brahms combines Beethovenian dynamism with his own organic developing variation technique.



Brahms: 10 Intermezzi

Brahms: Fantasien Op.116/Intermezzi Op.117/Klavierstücke Op.118 & 119

Brahms: Intermezzi; Rhapsodien; Capriccio

Brahms: Two Rhapsodies, Op. 79; Piano Pieces, Opp. 117-119

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