Composer: Johannes Brahms
Performer: Barry Douglas
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Chandos
Catalogue: CHAN10903
Release: 2016
Size: 1.1 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Rakoczy March, Anhang III
01. No. 10
6 Klavierstücke, Op. 118
02. No. 6, Intermezzo in E-Flat Minor
Canon in F Minor, Anhang III
03. No. 2
Gigues, WoO 4
04. No. 1 in A Minor
05. No. 2 in B Minor
8 Klavierstücke, Op. 76
06. No. 5, Capriccio in C-Sharp Minor
07. No. 7, Intermezzo in A Minor
08. No. 8, Capriccio in C Major
Gavotte by Christ. W. Gluck: Anhang Ia
09. No. 2
5 Studies for the Piano, Anhang Ia
10. No. 1, Étude (after Fr. Chopin)
11. No. 2, Rondo (after C.M. von Weber)
12. No. 3, Presto (after J.S. Bach)
10 Hungarian Dances, WoO 1
13. No. 2 in D Minor
14. No. 4 in F-Sharp Minor
15. No. 6 in D-Flat Major
16. No. 7 in F Major
17. No. 8 in A Minor
18. No. 9 in E Minor
19. No. 10 in E Major
5 Studies for the Piano, Anhang Ia
20. No. 5, Chaconne (by J.S. Bach)
This is the sixth and final volume in Barry Douglas’s survey of Brahms’s output for solo piano, which started four years ago. The recital completes a project that over 441 minutes has represented a ‘triumph of Brahmsian thoughts’ and in which ‘every sound is resonantly Brahmsian’. According to BBC Music, ‘Douglas’s tone is a deep velvet cushion, the legatos full of affection and the rhythms galvanised with great energy’.
The music recorded here spans the entirety of the composer’s creative career, from March 1852 (the Study after Weber) – eighteen months before the life-changing meeting between Brahms and Robert and Clara Schumann – to August 1893 (the Intermezzo, Op. 118 No. 6) – less than four years before his death, on 3 April 1897.
The selection of works offered here invites us to consider Brahms under many aspects – arranger, virtuoso, pedagogue, historicist, and above all pianist – which Barry Douglas embraces perfectly.
In 2012, Barry Douglas threw himself into creating an impressive Complete Works for Piano by Johannes Brahms, released at ChandosRecords. It’s a long body of work that the celebrated Irish pianist has now put the finishing touches to, and today we celebrate the release of the sixth and final volume. It was recorded by Douglas, like the others in the series, in one single recital setting. This recording process was a personal approach that Douglas took in order to avoid the usual chronological ordering that appears on most albums. Gold Medal winner in the 1986 Tchaïkovski Competition, the pianist from Belfast, who doubles as a successful musical director, is also the founder of theCamerata Ireland orchestra. A wonderful finale to an enchanting series.