BaL 2.11.13 - Brahms Piano Concerto no. 1 in D minor

[gurnemanz]

We were at the Gewandhaus in Feb 2006 and it was great concert. It was done on two nights so I don't know if what we actually heard made it to the final cut. I've checked the programme and the other items were Brahms 2nd Symphony and Berg Sonata op.1 orchestrated. I thought that with full shelves I probably had enough Brahms 1st PC in my collection but this BaL verdict might just nudge me to find space for Freire after all.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

i found this BAL rather dismissive of many if not downright rude; after saying that Barenboim has made more recordings than anyone else he is unmentioned for the rest of the exercise - one would like to know why, and determine for oneself what one might think .... also as a fan of Kempf thowing him to one side with a wave of the hand [too big or something of that ilk] was a bit much for this jazbo ..... and how do we know/what do we mean when we say Pollini is disengaged? he did not turn up? he was pretending, he was afraid or is a stereotypical attribution of introversion being carelessly tossed in as he is tossed out?

... sloppy thinking, and sloppy treatment i found this BAL most unsatisfactory .... an opaque romp through personal taste with little in the way of insight but quite a lot of incite

[Petrushka]

The interesting record this morning for me was the Kovacevich/Davis. I have and love his later recording with Sawallisch and shortly after that came out saw him play the concerto magnificently at the RFH but I think I might have to add the Davis- the extracts played sounded very special indeed .

I picked this CD up at a charity shop a few weeks ago but haven't yet got round to listening to it. Will remedy this asap.

[verismissimo]

... sloppy thinking, and sloppy treatment i found this BAL most unsatisfactory .... an opaque romp through personal taste with little in the way of insight but quite a lot of incite

Seems to me that's inevitable when there are so many runners. I prefer it when there are, say, under fifteen. Then we can hear real comparisons, less romping.

I shall stick with Serkin/Szell and Kovacevich/Sawallisch.

[Richard Tarleton]

rather dismissive of many if not downright rude

Likewise on Brendel - "One does not go to this pianist for sheer beauty of sound" or words to that effect.....Not sure how old Ms Smith is (she doesn't sound as if she's been attending Brendel concerts since the 1960s) - but it's the sort of sweeping generalisation I find particularly unhelpful. About as unlike MC's useful BAL last week as possible.

[Barbirollians]

She had decided quite clearly that anyone whose tempo wasn't exactly as she liked it was out no matter the other merits of their performance.

[Nick Armstrong]

i found this BAL rather dismissive of many if not downright rude... also as a fan of Kempf thowing him to one side with a wave of the hand [too big or something of that ilk] was a bit much for this jazbo
... sloppy thinking, and sloppy treatment i found this BAL most unsatisfactory .... an opaque romp through personal taste with little in the way of insight but quite a lot of incite

Likewise on Brendel - "One does not go to this pianist for sheer beauty of sound" or words to that effect.....Not sure how old Ms Smith is (she doesn't sound as if she's been attending Brendel concerts since the 1960s) - but it's the sort of sweeping generalisation I find particularly unhelpful. About as unlike MC's useful BAL last week as possible.

There was a good range of extracts played in this BAL which I found enlightening... but I've never been a particular fan of Ms Smith's approach (hence my above). One sentence alluded to by jazzer above got my goat too... dismissing Solomon, Arrau and Kempff "whose idea of the work is more epic than mine"...

One knows what she means but what an arrogant way of putting it. I know whose ideas I'm infinitely more interested in

[Richard Tarleton]

One sentence alluded to by jazzer above got my goat too... dismissing Solomon, Arrau and Kempff "whose idea of the work is more epic than mine"...

signed H Smith, aged 14¾

[muzzer]

Yes, that was a bit inept. So she's had to narrow down the field and that's a bit hard. So she's discarded a few giants ungallantly, and ended up sounding, well, a bit naive. Not exactly authoritative is it.

[Sir Velo]

One sentence alluded to by jazzer above got my goat too... dismissing Solomon, Arrau and Kempff "whose idea of the work is more epic than mine"...

So what's her idea of the piece then? Light comedy? A mere bagatelle? I mean, FHS, if this piece isn't epic then, frankly, nothing in the repertory is!

[soileduk]

I slightly take issue with AMcG saying the Freire is at midprice when amazon has it at c.£18, even if a 2cd set........

£13.99 at the grocers.

[Nick Armstrong]

It seemed to me however that her basic approach wasn't a bad one, which was that the music is that of a man in his mid-twenties; and that the (fascinating) extracts from Backhaus's performance give one some sort of direct 'line-in' to how the piece was approached by early performers including the composer.

I'll try and hear the 'winner' on Monday but it didn't excite me when it came out. The excerpts from Curzon's and Fleischer's performances didn't immediately float HMS Caliban either....

However, the interesting avenues for exploration, for me, were Serkin/Szell and Bishop/Davis

[slarty]

So what's her idea of the piece then? Light comedy? A mere bagatelle? I mean, FHS, if this piece isn't epic then, frankly, nothing in the repertory is!

I entirely agree with you. If the BBC can't find better candidates to take on these BaLs, then I question the need for continuing this kind of programme.
I don't mind that my own preferences are not chosen, but to hear them all dismissed out of hand........
Chailly and Brahms seem to be flavour of the month at the moment, but not for me.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

... dismissing Solomon, Arrau and Kempff "whose idea of the work is more epic than mine"...

That knocked me between the eyes too. In Arrau's case, that meant 5 versions "switched off" with hardly a whimper. Having said that, HS had my attention throughout with some very interesting observations.

And I did like that early Backhaus performance.

[Barbirollians]

I don't quibble with the fact that Brahms was young but bearing in mind the first movement was conceived as a symphony and what we know of Brahms feelings about writing a symphony after Beethoven does not mean that isn't an epic work - it is a very long concerto for its time .