Give us that old-time Brahms playing! Give us playing full of tempo rubato and rolled chords, of intimate pleasures and big gestures, of heroic tragedy and aching nostalgia. Real old-time Brahms playing, naturally, also includes some slipped notes, a few smudged textures, and a lot of pedaling. Think of Backhaus or Kempff's Brahms -- rich, thick, deep, and occasionally a bit cloudy but always wonderfully soulful -- that's old-time Brahms piano playing.
Elisabeth Leonskaja gives us that old-time Brahms playing in this recital of all four sets of the composer's late piano works. She pushes forward and pulls back but never violates the music's heartbeat. She rolls the big left-hand chords but is always in support of the right hand's flowing melodies. She lets the inner voices sing but never fails to let the big climaxes ring. She comprehends that the soul of the music is in its dark despair but understands that the spirit of the music is in its consoling love. Of course, Leonskaja can't help but slip some notes -- every once in awhile her left-hand octaves go awry -- can't help but smudge some phrases -- every now and again her right hand will smear a line. And, of course, she can't help but sometimes lean hard on the sustain pedal -- but that's been a tendency among Brahms' players ever since Brahms' himself. Although Radu Lupu and Paul Badura-Skoda have both recorded magnificent performances of these works, anyone who loves old-time Brahms playing will have to hear Leonskaja's recording. Musik Dabringhaus und Grimm's sound is perhaps a bit too close and a little too clangorous, but that only makes it all the more potent and powerful.
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