Here is another disc in Idil Biret's most welcome super-bargain series for Naxos of the complete Brahms piano music. I have already admired her in this composer, notably in the First and Second Sonatas (see above), and find her no less at home in the quieter and more intimate utterances of the music here, which unlike the sonatas belongs (with the single exception of the Scherzo in E flat minor) to the composer's later life and consists of relatively short but invariably telling pieces.
I need not discuss every one of the 14 pieces played here: suffice it to say that Biret responds to their fine expressive detail without losing overall flow, that her judgement of tempo and texture is sure, that she phrases with intelligence and subtlety, and that she uses the sustaining pedal with unfailing taste and resource. At times, as in the incredibly poignant B minor Intermezzo of Op. 119, the playing has memorable distinction. There is always the right kind of gravity, one that does not exclude charm and warmth but still represents a Northern kind of utterance. Passion, too, finds its place, as in the impetuous A minor Intermezzo and G minor Ballade of Op. 118 as well as the E flat major Rhapsody of Op. 119, but Biret rightly shows us that the fires that burn here are mostly on the dark side.
I have heard richer and more lingering performances of the lilting A major Intermezzo of Op. 118, but her slight restraint is better than senti- mentalizing this exquisitely tender piece. By the way, the last Intermezzo of Op. 118—and what a nobly sad masterpiece it is, too—is in E flat minor, not major as the jewel-case has it; otherwise the documentation with this disc is excellent. The recording is good, too, with a rich yet clear sound, and the piano used has a fine tone. All told, this issue represents a real bargain and deserves the strongest recommendation.'