Composer: Johannes Brahms
Performer: Nicholas Angelich
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Erato
Catalogue: 3793022
Release: 2007
Size: 213 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
CD 01
Intermezzi, Op. 116
01. No. 1, Capriccio in D Minor
02. No. 2, Intermezzo in A Minor
03. No. 3, Capriccio in G Minor
04. No. 4, Intermezzo in E Major
05. No. 5, Intermezzo in E Minor
06. No. 6, Intermezzo in E Major
07. No. 7, Capriccio in D Minor
CD 02
Intermezzi, Op. 117
01. No. 1, in E-Flat Major
02. No. 2, in B-Flat Minor
03. No. 3, in C-Sharp Minor
Klavierstücke, Op. 118
04. No. 1, Intermezzo in A Minor
05. No. 2, Intermezo in A Major
06. No. 3, Ballade in G Minor
07. No. 4, Intermezzo in F Minor
08. No. 5, Romanze in F Major
09. No. 6, Intermezzo in E-Flat Minor
Klavierstücke, Op. 119
10. No. 1, Intermezzo in B Minor
11. No. 2, Intermezzo in E Minor
12. No. 3, Intermezzo in C Major
13. No. 4, Rhapsody in E-Flat Major
Steering a balanced course between imaginative vitality and warmth on one side and resigned melancholy on the other can be difficult, but Nicholas Angelich manages it with a kind of panache. He takes you to the brink of inconsolable sadness one moment, only to put a refreshingly spring in the step of a dance movement the next.
Trenchant, focused Brahms from a formidable player . . . . Nicholas Angelich is an American pianist, trained in Paris, whose performances on this disc are of a wholly exceptional drama, sweep and impeccable craftsmanship. Few young pianists have so little truck with flighty, salon-ish alternatives to seriousness, and his Brahms is sufficiently authoritative to make one long to hear him in the piano concertos. . . . . Angelich’s is nonetheless among the finest recordings of Brahms’s formidable masterpiece.
In 2006, the year prior to the release of this two-disc set of Brahms’ late piano music, young American pianist Nicholas Angelich released a single disc of Brahms’ early piano music featuring the Ballads and the Paganini Variations. That disc was a marvel and a wonder — comparisons with Richter and Kempff did not seem unreasonable — but it was not as utterly beyond comprehension as this disc. True, Angelich’s technique is as commanding and his tone is as variegated as before — but Brahms’ late piano music demands more of a pianist: it demands a depth of soul as well as a breadth of experience that a young performer could hardly be expected to possess. And yet, irrefutably, Angelich possesses that depth and breadth. The strength, tenderness, and especially the insatiable longing for all one’s ever loved and lost is present in his performances, turning into sound the mysteries of Brahms’ sorrow. It’s true that Angelich does stretch tempos at times — the Andante non troppo e con molto espressione from his Opus 117 Intermezzi is much slower than any andante conceivably could be — but because of the compelling intensity of his interpretations, this only heightens the overall tension. Anyone who loves great Brahms’ piano playing or just great piano playing should hear these performances. Virgin Classics’ sound is rich, warm, and fine grained.