Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 1 ˇ Three Intermezzi / Andsnes ˇ Birmingham SO ˇ Rattle

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
This performance of the Piano Concerto won't be to everyone's taste. Leif Ove Andsnes, who has a decided point of view on the music, plays with his emphasis on the lyrical aspects of the music. He could obviously play the heroic outbursts of the first movement as strongly as he wants to, but he downplays them somewhat to keep them in context. You can get more excitement in other places, but only Curzon and Moravec have made this concerto such a poetic, emotional experience. Simon Rattle and the orchestra second Andsnes's viewpoint very convincingly. The Intermezzi, already elegiac in tone, are particularly affecting as Andsnes plays them; this "bonus" could easily be worth the price of the disc. --Leslie Gerber

Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 1 ˇ Three Intermezzi / Andsnes ˇ Birmingham SO ˇ Rattle, Music, Johannes Brahms, Simon Rattle, Leif Ove Andsnes, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Concerto, Intermezzo for Keyboard, Keyboard, Orchestral & Symphonic, Piano Concerto
Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 1 · Three Intermezzi / Andsnes · Birmingham SO · Rattle
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Magical
  • Just like Horowitz, but really estimated isýc
  • A lovely interpretation
 Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 1 · Three Intermezzi / Andsnes · Birmingham SO · Rattle
Johannes Brahms , Simon Rattle , Leif Ove Andsnes , and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Manufacturer: Angel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by BrahmsAll Works by Brahms | Brahms, Johannes | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
IntermezzosIntermezzos | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
PianoPiano | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:
  1. Schumann : Piano Sonata No. 1-Fantasy Andsnes
  2. Chopin: The Piano Sonatas, 5 Etudes, 4 Mazurkas
  3. Horizons - Leif Ove Andsnes
  4. Schubert: Piano Sonata in D, D850 & Lieder; Leif Ove Andsnes/Ian Bostridge; 9 Lieder
  5. Haydn: Piano Concertos

ASIN: B00000DFNY
Release Date: 1998-11-17

Tracks:

  1. I. Maestoso
  2. II. Adagio
  3. Rondo. Allegro Non Troppo
  4. I. Andante Moderato
  5. II. Andante Non Troppo E Con Molta Espressione
  6. III. Andante Con Moto

Amazon.com

This performance of the Piano Concerto won't be to everyone's taste. Leif Ove Andsnes, who has a decided point of view on the music, plays with his emphasis on the lyrical aspects of the music. He could obviously play the heroic outbursts of the first movement as strongly as he wants to, but he downplays them somewhat to keep them in context. You can get more excitement in other places, but only Curzon and Moravec have made this concerto such a poetic, emotional experience. Simon Rattle and the orchestra second Andsnes's viewpoint very convincingly. The Intermezzi, already elegiac in tone, are particularly affecting as Andsnes plays them; this "bonus" could easily be worth the price of the disc. --Leslie Gerber

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Magical.......2005-09-03

It is hard for me to comment on the concerto; I think that other reviewers have done so quite ably and I can't think of any more to add to their astute observations.

The intermezzi are what really made me fall in love with Leif Ove. I have a recording of Horowitz playing No. 2, and I find him a bit too smooth, even glib. On this recording, however, Leif Ove seems to have distilled the essence of the compositions. I feel that he plays them not so much as performance pieces but rather as introspections or meditations - the liner notes describe the intermezzi as an eavesdropping on someone's private grief, and nowhere more so than in Leif Ove's hands. Yet he exhibits immaculate control, a total lack of sentimentality or overwrought emotion.

In short, this CD is well worth your consideration and dollars.

5 out of 5 stars Just like Horowitz, but really estimated isýc.......2004-03-04

The reason I bought this CD is the third movement. It sounds like Horowitzfs pianism. Actually even now, I listen to it at first to be courage. Andsnesf powerful and rapid touch isnft hidden by the orchestrafs play of the main theme. Besides, I have never listened to the clear trio that the orchestra plays at this movement. The stress of the cello and contrabass enables it.
By the way, if any CD were estimated truly, its reason would not be the wonderful play, but that it would bring people to the new interpretation or finding of this piece. From this viewpoint, the performance to be estimated should be the second motivation. In contrast to the third, it is very quiet and slow. However, from the beginning the orchestra makes explicit that it is the fugue just like Bach, while the piano shows that the beautiful melody line at the right hand is accompanied with the different tempo harmony at the left hand just as Chopin. This performance notices it to listeners clearly. I appreciates the second highly because of these reasons, even if it is harder to listen than the third.
The second isnft fit for the beginners, but the third is the fittest. I advice beginners to listen to the third at first. As the first isnft so particular, suppose it as the standard.

5 out of 5 stars A lovely interpretation.......2002-03-08

This is a wonderful performance of Brahms Piano Concerto #1 with excellent playing by both Leif Ove Andsnes and the Birmingham Symphony conducted by Simon Rattle. The Maestoso and Rondo movements are powerfully dramatic without sounding crazed or out of control. The Adagio is serene and expressive, and absent of syrupy-ness. Andsnes gives a brilliant, very natural-sounding interpretation, and Rattle and the Birmingham Symphony do an admirable job of supporting him.

The recording quality is excellent throughout. One doesn't get the sense of the soloist being artificially amplified, as is the case with so many concerto recordings. This sounds as if you are sitting in the hall listening. It seems to truly take advantage of the Compact Disc's excellent dynamic range.

Brahms's Three Intermezzi at the end of the CD are delightful and profound. Andsnes always does a marvelous job of letting the compositions guide his performance. When listening, you get a sense of the composer's voice coming through the music.

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