Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Liebeslieder Waltzes, Op 52a for piano duet
Neue Liebeslieder, Op 65a for piano duet
Zigeunerlieder, Op 103 arr. for piano duet by Theodor Kirchner
Piano Duo Nadàn (Nadia and Angela Tirino)
rec. 2020, Griffa e Figli Pianoforte, Milan, Italy
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 96166 [58]
Despite his forbidding appearance and manner and his production of serious pieces such as symphonies and quartets, Brahms enjoyed light music. He liked Johann Strauss and his enthusiasm for gypsy music bore fruit in his Hungarian Dances (Brahms, like Liszt and unlike Bartók, did not distinguish between gypsy music and true Hungarian folk music.) What we have here in the Liebeslieder waltzes is another kind of light music.
He wrote these pieces for a mixed vocal quartet with the accompaniment of piano duet, four hands at one piano. He also allowed them to be played just by the pianists without the singers, and that is what we have here. There are three sets, the original Liebeslieder, the Neue Liebeslieder and the Zigeunerlieder. This last set had a solo piano accompanying, and what we have here is a piano duet arrangement by Brahms’s friend Theodor Kirchner.
These are all delightful pieces and make very easy and pleasant listening. All the numbers are short – none is as much as three minutes and several are less than one minute long. They are skilfully varied in character. So, for example, in the first set 1 is rather in the mood of Johann Strauss, as if in homage to him, but otherwise, the predominant influence is Schubert. Some of them, such as 2, 11, and 12 from the first set are forceful, even fiery, while several such as 3, 7 and 8 are gentle. 9 is Chopinesque, 16 more like an Étude and 13, 15 and 18 skittish and playful.
The second set is similar, though I find the piano writing more like that in Brahms’s late piano works than the earlier set. 1 is a Hungarian dance, as are 7 and 11 but Brahms is here more willing to introduce cross rhythms and more complex writing. 10 is capricious in a rather Schumannesque way and 13 Mendelssohnian. The last one of this set is serene – and not a waltz.
The Zigeunerlieder are similar in mood but are not waltzes: they are all in duple time. Although some of them, such as 7 and 8 are quiet, even plaintive, more vigorous writing predominates which is in places quite virtuosic.
The piano Duo Nadàn consists of two sisters, Nadia and Angela Tirino, who have built a career in performing as a duo. Obviously they are a well-matched pair. Brahms’s piano writing tends to the massive rather than the ethereal, and this can be the more so in writing for four hands rather than two. However, he was writing for amateurs – though the parts are sometimes quite demanding – and he lightened his style, and Nadàn ensure that their playing is never too chunky. Their Bösendorfer Imperial piano has just the rich and resonant sound that suits Brahms, the recording is good and the booklet helpful.
This is the first recording of the Zigeunerlieder in this version. There are other versions of the piano arrangements, but mainly, as one would expect, recordings have been of the vocal versions. Of the two Liebeslieder sets there is a classic recording by Edith Mathis, Brigitte Fassbaender, Peter Schreier and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau with Wolfgang Sawallisch and Karl Engel as the pianists on a DG disc now available again from Presto. A more recent and highly praised version is by Mary Bevan, Fleur Barron, Nicky Spence and William Thomas with Dylan Perez and Joseph Middleton as the pianists, from Resonus. Of the original Zigeunerlieder there are many versions, including a classic one by Jessye Norman with Daniel Barenboim on DG, again available through Presto. However, if you would prefer to have piano versions, this will do nicely.
Stephen Barber
