Released in 1990 and reissued in 2004 in the Masterworks Expanded Edition,
Murray Perahia's tasteful recordings of the piano concertos by Schumann and Grieg have been improved, but only minimally. The engineering of the original album was already fine, and the remastering through Direct Stream Digital and SBM Direct seems only to have clarified particular details in the orchestration and not dramatically altered the separation of the piano and orchestra.
Perahia's performances of both concertos are elegant, rather than hair-raising, emotive affairs. Anyone familiar with
Perahia's classical restraint and tendency toward introspection should expect polish and nuance, and not feel disappointed that these renditions eschew Lisztian posturing and flamboyance. With
Sir Colin Davis conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, one may also expect the concertos to be balanced and formally proportioned, filled with genuine Romantic color and expression, but firmly controlled and never exaggerated for cheap effects. This is easier to accomplish in Schumann's subdued concerto, though, than it is in Grieg's flashy work. The finale from Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor is offered as a bonus track, though
Perahia's complete performance with
Sir Neville Marriner and the
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields on Sony is preferable to this excerpt.