Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op.83 (1878-1881)
Piano Sonata No. 2 in F sharp minor, Op.2 (1852)
Intermezzo in C major, Op.119, No.3 (1893)
Rhapsody in E flat major, Op.119, No.4 (1893)
Sviatoslav Richter (piano), Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Erich Leinsdorf
rec. 1960, Chicago, USA (concerto); live, 1959, Moscow, USSR (the rest)
Alto ALC 1708 [78]
The 1960s brought three great readings of Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto, and each could be the reference recording. Leon Fleisher and Rudolf Serkin, both on Sony, were accompanied by the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell. Sviatoslav Richter, on RCA, played with the Chicago Symphony conducted by Erich Leinsdorf. Leinsdorf – who stepped in when Fritz Reiner was unexpectedly hospitalized – was a good choice. His rapport with Richter is palpable in what is the most spontaneous-sounding of the three recordings.
These have been my go-to accounts of this monumental work – among quite a number of other rewarding recordings. The 2006 account on Decca by Nelson Freire, Riccardo Chailly and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra challenged their hegemony for me. Alto has done a real service in this reissue of Richter/Leinsdorf’s recording, newly remastered and at budget price. This performance alone is worth the modest price. Its discmates are not of the same quality – see below.
Christopher Leuba, the horn soloist in the Chicago performance, plays the concerto’s opening beautifully, with a bit of rubato. The slightly straighter accounts by Cleveland’s Myron Bloom are equally fine. I am especially taken with Bloom’s tone on the Fleisher recording that he later did not really match for Serkin. The unidentified hornist for Chailly is their equal; the gorgeous tone benefits from the digital recording that overall makes for a listening experience second to none.
The four pianists are all more than equal to the task, and each has his own individual attributes. Fleisher, very incisive, is classical; Serkin is more monumental and granitic. Freire is notably smooth and warm. Richter is somewhat freer with his lyricism and pellucid tone, and he really lets loose in the coda of the finale.
The modern sound of the Decca recording results in a more natural balance between the piano and the orchestra. This is especially noticeable in the third movement where the solo cellist is not spotlit the way it is done in the older recordings. Robert La Marchina plays exquisitely in the Richter account. (Principal cellist in Chicago then was Frank Miller, previously with Toscanini’s NBC Symphony Orchestra.)
Overall timings do not always indicate the differences among recordings, but they can give a general indication of tempo. Richter and Leinsdorf are the quickest at 46:23, and Freire with Chailly the broadest at 48:31. Szell’s accounts fall in between: 47:26 and 47:55 for Fleisher and Serkin, respectively.
I would not want to be without any of these recordings. Richter and Leinsdorf clearly hold their own among the competition.
The remainder of the programme comprises live recordings Richter made in Moscow in 1959. The sound is so inferior to that of the studio recording of the concerto that one’s enjoyment of the music in limited. The Piano Sonata No.2 (it actually predates Brahms’s first sonata by a year) is a challenging work for the pianist and not that rewarding from a musical standpoint. This early Brahms betrays Schumann’s influence, but without memorable themes. The first three movements, Allegro, Andante and Scherzo, precede a meandering finale twice the length of any of the earlier movements. Richter surmounts the challenges well.
To conclude the disc, we have two much more rewarding short pieces from the Op.119 set. The poetic Intermezzo and the imposing Rhapsody leave a more positive impression.
There are scanty notes in this budget release, but it is worth having for Richter/Leinsdorf’s magisterial account of the Second Piano Concerto.
Leslie Wright
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