Johannes Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 1 (Hélène Grimaud; Kurt Sanderling)

Information

Composer: Johannes Brahms

• Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15

Hélène Grimaud, piano

Staatskapelle Berlin

Kurt Sanderling, conductor

Date: 1998

Label: Erato

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Review

None of the classic recordings listed above is live (though, my goodness, they sound it, the two Szell-conducted recordings in particular). The new one is. Indeed, the fact of being able to play the concerto live with Kurt Sanderling, grandest and most charismatic of living Brahms conductors, is something the soloist, Helene Grimaud, makes much of in a lengthy interview in the CD booklet.

Sanderling, whose greatest Brahms monument is his 1971 Dresden symphony cycle (RCA, 1/97), has recorded the D minor Concerto before, with Martino Tirimo on Classics for Pleasure (2/81). It was an extremely broad reading and, inevitably, a controversial one. The newer is equally spacious, but with Grimaud as soloist the sense of combat and conversation is even more marked. It does not make the reading any less controversial, but it does make it even more enthralling.

JOC thought extremely well of Grimaud when, nine years ago at the age of 19, she recorded Brahms’s F minor Sonata (Denon, 9/89); and she was full of praise for her more recent recording of the Schumann concerto (Erato, 2/96). What is remarkable about the present performance is the way it so richly meets, matches and enriches the vision of the work that Sanderling sets before us. Grimaud is not Arrau nor is she Serkin, but the weight of sound and clarity of detail she brings to the work has elements of both their styles.

Her critics will say that there are times when she plays in a way that is distressingly old-fashioned, with spread chords and elasticated rhythms. So rhapsodic a style goes against the grain of an age whose opinion-formers would confiscate Brahms entirely from the romantic tendency if left to their own devices. Indeed, such a style would go against the grain of Brahms’s concerto itself were its riper manifestations not confined to the big solo meditations. In the end, Grimaud cannot take too many liberties because Sanderling – for all his imaginative generosity – is a stickler over dynamics and a benign despot where rhythm and pulse are concerned. In the slow movement, Grimaud’s playing is both grand and simple, which is not so much a matter of technique or private inclination as a case of her being symbiotically at one with a conception of the work that treats the two opening movements (D minor/major, 6/4, Maestoso- Adagio) as different sides of the same coin.

The recording is very fine. The piano is powerfully ‘there’ without being in any way blatant. The orchestral sound builds from the bottom up, the bass line finely caught; there are well-placed horns and distinct solo woodwinds. (The excellent First Oboe is almost too distinct, often a notch above the rest of the orchestra dynamically.)

How the performance will wear is difficult to predict. I do, however, urge you to try it. After several hearings, I am still marvelling at the sound and substance of a pianist capable of meeting Sanderling on his own ground where Brahms is concerned. I am also marvelling afresh at the work – which is usually a good sign.

— Richard Osborne

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Johannes Brahms (7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer and pianist. In his lifetime, Brahms's popularity and influence were considerable. Brahms composed for symphony orchestra, chamber ensembles, piano, organ, and voice and chorus. Many of his works have become staples of the modern concert repertoire. An uncompromising perfectionist, Brahms destroyed some of his works and left others unpublished. Brahms is often considered both a traditionalist and an innovator. His music is firmly rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of the Classical masters, with a highly romantic nature embedded within.

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Hélène Grimaud (born 7 November 1969) is a French classical pianist. She studied with Jacques Rouvier at the Conservatoire de Paris, as well as with György Sándor and Leon Fleisher. She tours extensively as a soloist and recitalist. A committed chamber musician, she has also performed at the most prestigious festivals and cultural events with a wide range of musical collaborators. Grimaud has been an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist since 2002. Her recordings have been critically acclaimed and awarded numerous accolades, such as Diapason d'or, Grand Prix du disque and the Echo Klassik Award.

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