Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat, Op. 83 [47:11]
Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 [30:15]
Edwin Fischer (piano) (Brahms); Walter Gieseking (piano) (Schumann)
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Wilhelm Furtwängler
rec. Alte Philharmonie, Berlin, 8 Nov 1942 (Brahms), 3 Mar 1942 (Schumann).
PRISTINE AUDIO PASC 347 [77:26]
Given their provenance these two recordings are pretty good. That said, don’t
get your hopes too high. For all the miracles wrought by Andrew Rose and his
XR method these remain grainy and roughened. On this evidence it comes as
no surprise to hear that they survived Nazi wartime as vintage, live concert
detritus, being spirited away to Moscow as war booty and decades of storage
in the USSR.
Of the two works the Brahms emerges in meaty mono and with a string sound
that is better than tolerable. Fischer, Furtwängler and the Berlin Phil
give a monumental and blazingly atmospheric performance with not a little
pointed wit in the exultant Allegretto. It could never rate as a chosen sole
representative in anyone’s collection but it would make a nice contrast
for those days when you would like a few risks and maybe a modicum of bluster.
It’s certainly not dull. No doubt I will provoke sighs of despair but
if you are looking for something to surprise and delight in your Brahms 2
then try Serkin on Sony-CBS if you can find it. A concert discovery last year
was a pretty much ideal performance by Emanuel Ax at the BBC Proms with the
Chamber Orchestra of Europe conducted by Bernard Haitink. Ax and his partners
delivered a joyously life-enhancing reading of each of the two Brahms concertos.
As for the Schumann it is a shade or two less desirable in comparison to the
sound of the Brahms: the piano is a mite clattery, the treble hazed and the
distortion crazing more obvious. The promethean power of the pianism, the
clarion call to ardour and the complementary fire of the conductor and orchestra
leave us grateful and ready to remember this performance with enough fondness
to prompt a return visit despite the coughing. The liner-notes are rather
scant but the short technical notes are well worth a read.
Rob Barnett
For those days when you would like a few risks and maybe a modicum of bluster.
It’s certainly not dull.
Masterwork Index: Brahms
concerto 2 ~~ Schumann
concerto