Brahms' piano concertos, which are the best??
Fri, Apr 19 2013, 10:33PM
#2
RE: Brahms' piano concertos, which are the best??
"don't confuse the actual "Great Recordings"...." (Parla said)
Dupré-Barbirolli and Benedetti Michelangeli-Ettore Gracis versions, actual recordings?, but if they dates from the sixties?? what besides shows their supremacy until to day oscar.olavarria
Sat, Apr 20 2013, 3:01AM
#3
RE: Brahms' piano concertos, which are the best??
"Actual" means also the "real", not only the "present", Oscar. In the context of my post, it could not mean but the former, since I have already talked about the "Great Recordings of the Century".
By the way, there is no "supremacy" in Music. However, there is, in one or the other way, among the labels, marketing and the magazines/critics field. I sincerely hope you won't stay for too long in this trap and, one day, you'll enjoy the multi-coloured beauty of the real Music.
Parla
Sun, Apr 21 2013, 6:50PM
#4
RE: Brahms' piano concertos, which are the best??
Dear Parla,
we are not being sinceres, because...do you believe really that ever could be a better Elgars cello concerto version than Dupré-Barbirolli? or a better version than Benedetti Michelangeli-Ettore Gracis for Ravels piano concerto in G? I find that almost impossible, dear friend!! oscar.olavarria
The Dupre Elgar is a wonderful performance but I don't play it much any more.
Sun, May 12 2013, 3:30AM
#5
RE: Brahms' piano concertos, which are the best??
returning to the theme of the forum, recently I've heard Brahms's 1rst with Elizabeth Leonskaja-Eliahu Inbal/Philharmonia Orch, a passionate, dinamic and vigorous performance, very well recorded also. A first choice for my taste!. Eliahu Inbal could be perfectly the best alive conductor! oscar olavarria
Sun, May 12 2013, 2:18PM
#6
RE: Brahms' piano concertos, which are the best??
I'm with you, Oscar. I have seen Inbal in live performances in Berlin and he was always much above the average. His recordings suffer a bit (or more) by average (or even below average) recordings. Leonskaja is one of my favourite pianists: very dynamic, precise pianism and strong convictions in performing specific works. Good choice for Brahms concerti. (Another female in the list of very good female pianists on Brahms).
Parla
Sun, May 12 2013, 11:41PM
#7
RE: Brahms' piano concertos, which are the best??
I haven't come across a better Mahler 7 last mvt than Inbal
Dear Oscar, even yourself you use the words "almost impossible"!..
To answer your post on the substance: yes, these two superb interpretations are very difficult to match, but, still, they are not the "definitive" recordings, let alone the "absolute" performances. Since both come from EMI, the prudent people of the label, when they reissued them, they call -very aptly- the whole project "Great Recordings of the Century". Nothing more, nothing less! If, most of us may agree on the unique greatness of these two recordings, still, this cannot make them as the "definitive" ones.
Besides, even these two great and unique recordings address certain aspects of the works in question. Not all of them! For example, in Ravel's Concerto in G, I love to see the playfulness, humour and wit of its outer movements in the hands of Argerich or even Roge more than the excessive beauty and refinement of Benedetti-Michelangeli.
In sum, don't confuse the actual "Great Recordings" with the imaginary "definitive" or "absolute" ones. The truth, like Life itself, is one but its texture is multifold. So, there can be many different ways to perform greatly a work of music. They all confirm the same truth: the greatness of the work itself.
Best wishes, dear friend in the web,
Parla