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* Description

A first Super Audio CD hybrid release of two masterful performances of Brahms's major works, which sum up Pollini's performances of the 1970s.

A memorial release for Pollini.

[Tracks]

Johannes Brahms

DISC 1

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

[1] 1st movement: Maestoso

[2] 2nd movement: Adagio

[3] 3rd movement: Rondo (Allegro non troppo)

DISC 2

Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 83

[1] 1st movement: Allegro non troppo

[2] 2nd movement: Allegro appassionato

[3] 3rd movement: Andante

[4] 4th movement: Allegretto grazioso

Maurizio Pollini, Piano

Wiener Philharmoniker

Conducted by Karl Bohm

Conducted by Claudio Abbado

The Second with his close friend Abbado

The conductor was Claudio Abbado (1933-2014), and Pollini and Abbado, who were both born in Milan, performed together many times from the 1960s onwards. They were on the same wavelength musically and politically (left-wing ), and they were bound together by a strong bond that could be called a kind of comradeship, and they had already collaborated on a recording in 1973, performing Nono's “Like a Wave of Power and Light” together.

Both Pollini and Abbado are musicians who excel at creating smooth, apollonian-style music, and in their performance of Brahms they have created a fresh and surprising interpretation that overturns the image of previous performances.

Brahms brought the lightness and brightness of the Italian sunshine and sense of freedom that inspired him to compose the concerto to the actual sound of the piece, bringing a sense of lightness and brightness to the interpretation of the work that does not mean frivolity.

The First Piano Concerto, which was the last time he performed with Böhm

The First Piano Concerto was conducted by Karl Böhm (1894-1981).

This was recorded in a session for a Deutsche Grammophon recording, and was not related to any actual concert performances.

Beethoven was known for his consistently strict attitude towards evaluating young musicians, but he had complete confidence in Pollini, and they recorded a number of important works together, including Mozart (No. 19 and No. 23) and Beethoven concertos (No. 3 to No. 5). This recording of the Brahms No. 1 was the last time they performed together.

In his later years, it seems that Bohm's health sometimes caused his tempos to slow down and the density of his playing to fade, but in this recording, he is free from such problems, and he makes the most of the dense orchestral parts that are difficult to play, revealing the appeal of Brahms' orchestration in a sound that is as rich as it gets.

On this orchestral carpet, Pollini also plays the difficult piano part with all his might, with crystal-clear brilliance, and there are countless highlights to listen to, such as the clear pianism of the main section of the second movement and the precise sound handling of the cadenza in the second half of the third movement.

■ Super Audio CD hybridization at its best

The recording was made at the Musikverein Grosser Saal, the Vienna Philharmonic's home base.

In the First Symphony, the sound image of both the solo and orchestra is close, and the sound is created to reflect the profoundness of the work, as if the monochrome direct sound were overflowing from the two speakers.

No. 2 makes more use of the beautiful reverberation of Musikverein, and in particular captures the sparkling tone of the piano solo, giving form to the Italian-like image that Brahms was inspired by.

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