# Favourite Brahms concerto



## maestro267 (Jul 25, 2009)

Brahms wrote four concertos. Simple question: which is your favourite?


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor

No. 2 has terrible finale and some other annoying parts in other movements.

Violin Concerto is boring.

Doube Concerto is kewl but not as much as Piano Concerto No. 1


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Definitely first Piano Concerto, though I was tempted to go for the double!


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## Guest (Apr 29, 2010)

1. Violin Concerto

2. Double Concerto

3/4. Piano Concertos

I don't know why, but I just have not been able to get into his piano concertos.

I tried to pick a good recording - Gilels/Jochum (DG) - but it just doesn't do anything for me. I also have a recording of, I believe, the 2nd with Backhaus/Bohm.

If there is a better recording that I am missing that is denying me the best possible experience with the piano concertos, I am open to suggestions. Brahms will always be up there with Beethoven in my top tier of composers, so anything that helps me appreciate his works more is always welcome.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

> If there is a better recording that I am missing that is denying me the best possible experience with the piano concertos, I am open to suggestions.


Go for Freire/Chailly and Zimerman/Bernstein


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

DrMike said:


> 1. Violin Concerto
> 
> 2. Double Concerto
> 
> ...


Same here. My third-favourite composer, but his piano concertos and his string quartets underwhelm me.


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## PoliteNewYorker (Dec 20, 2009)

Aramis said:


> Go for Freire/Chailly and Zimerman/Bernstein


Curzon/Szell is also very nice..


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

As regards the piano concertos, the general tendency has been to play them in a heavy, striiiiiiving forward and mostly slow, monumental way. I´m not sure that such chosen tempi (usually involving 47-51mins for the 1st Concerto, and 49-53mins for its sequel) correspond to the way that these concerti were originally played in the 19th century. For at least a refreshingly fast, often highly dramatic ebb-and-flow reading of the concerti, the electrifying Horowitz-Walter recording of the 1st Concerto (unfortunately missing some bars in the 1st movement) and the Manz-Mandeal recordings of both concerti on Arte Nova can be recommended. The last-mentioned set only uses 45mins for each concerto and some will no doubt be provoked by certain fast and slender passages, but at least they are interesting. Of course, the Horowitz-Toscanini rendition of the 2nd concerto has similar qualities.
I must agree with Aramis as regards the violin concerto, whereas the Double Concerto attracts me more, though not on the level of the piano concerti.


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## Guest (Apr 29, 2010)

Art Rock said:


> Same here. My third-favourite composer, but his piano concertos and his string quartets underwhelm me.


Yes, I have the string quartets, but they just haven't impressed me yet. I do greatly enjoy his piano quartets, piano trios, works for clarinet, violin and cello sonatas. I will revisit my Gilels/Jochum recording of the piano concertos. I found a copy of the Freire/Chailly recording at a library nearby and have it on reserve, so I will evaluate it before I decide if I want to buy it.


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## Bobotox (May 3, 2009)

The only one I like is the second piano one. The others are kinda boring.


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## mueske (Jan 14, 2009)

Piano concerto no. 1 in D minor.

I still remember when I first listened to it. At the end of the first movement I was already shivering and crying out of sheer excitement. It's a fabulous work. 

The second, the double and violin concerto have their moments, but overall they do not satisfy as much as the first concerto does.


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## TWhite (Feb 23, 2010)

Actually, being a bonafide Brahms fan, I like them all very much. 
However, if pressed to the wall, I will say that the First Piano Concerto is the one that really hits a musical 'nerve' with me. Having performed it in college, when I was much younger (and had no fear), I can say that it's enormously satisfying to play. Though technically difficult (but nowhere NEAR as difficult as the Second), getting through it is mostly a matter of sheer stamina, after getting the music under your belt. The first movement is physically exhausting unless you're extremely careful about where the intensity is actually supposed to happen. 

For me, the Brahms First is a kind of 'road not taken' in his subsequent concerti--it's youthful, almost brash--the inspiration seems to be a combination of Beethoven and Bach (Bach, certainly in the third movement), yet the serene and beautiful second movement shows for me, at least, the musical path that Brahms would eventually take in a great deal of his more mature music. 

It's Opus 15. Brahms as a composer is still formulating himself, IMO. The concerto started out as a sketch for a Symphony, which was abandoned, then re-sketched as a Sonata for two pianos, then eventually a work for piano and orchestra. Or orchestra and piano, whichever strikes you. Certainly that long, overpowering orchestral exposition almost seems to eliminate the IDEA of a piano being involved for a lot of listeners--it's only that quiet, almost hesitant lyric piano entrance that really reminds you that this IS a piano concerto. And it's certainly not a 'display' piece, though the piano writing is of often very high calibre. At times, the piano accompanies the orchestra, doesn't dominate it. This must have sounded VERY strange to 1850's audiences used to extraordinary displays of pianistic virtuosity. But for me, it's an extremely satisfying work, and for pianistic excitement, the Finale is as good as any concerto. 

In fact, if fellow pianists will forgive me for being somewhat 'flip' about it--once the technical and musical demands are met, the Finale of the First Concerto is actually ENORMOUSLY fun to play. 

And d minor is an extremely grateful and sonorous key for the piano. You can really feel as if you're digging IN to the sound. 

Tom


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

I like all of them, though I've only heard the 2nd piano concerto on radio a while back. I chose the 1st piano concerto, because I love the epic, colossal first movement, the gentle lyricism of the second, and the Hungarian finale. I like how in Brahms you get this Beethovenian drama, as well a kind of sad autumnal feeling.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

I like them all too. I tend to have a soft spot for piano concertos.


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## Edward Elgar (Mar 22, 2006)

I voted for Piano No.1. Such a youthful work. When I'm older I might prefer the calmer second.


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## ScipioAfricanus (Jan 7, 2010)

TWhite said:


> Actually, being a bonafide Brahms fan, I like them all very much.
> However, if pressed to the wall, I will say that the First Piano Concerto is the one that really hits a musical 'nerve' with me. Having performed it in college, when I was much younger (and had no fear), I can say that it's enormously satisfying to play. Though technically difficult (but nowhere NEAR as difficult as the Second), getting through it is mostly a matter of sheer stamina, after getting the music under your belt. The first movement is physically exhausting unless you're extremely careful about where the intensity is actually supposed to happen.
> 
> For me, the Brahms First is a kind of 'road not taken' in his subsequent concerti--it's youthful, almost brash--the inspiration seems to be a combination of Beethoven and Bach (Bach, certainly in the third movement), yet the serene and beautiful second movement shows for me, at least, the musical path that Brahms would eventually take in a great deal of his more mature music.
> ...


thanks for your insight. Quick question, How often did you practice the concerto with the orchestra before performance?


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## TWhite (Feb 23, 2010)

ScipioAfricanus said:


> thanks for your insight. Quick question, How often did you practice the concerto with the orchestra before performance?


That's kind of an interesting story. I only performed the second and third movements with orchestra, as the work was scheduled for our annual Spring Music Festival, and the conductor needed to fit in several other instrumental soloists for the program. So we made a choice--I could perform only the First movement with orchestra, or the Second and Third, but not the entire concerto because of the time element. I chose the latter two movements (I really wanted to play the Finale!).

Actually, the conductor, orchestra and all of we soloists worked very closely together on the various pieces--it was an evening orchestra class, and sometimes we'd be going until the wee hours of the morning. The conductor was also one of my Music History professors, so we had a good rapport with each other. The work is fairly easy to fit together--there are very few actual 'pitfalls' in fitting the piano with the orchestra, mainly a matter of tonal and volume adjustment, since the orchestration is rather 'thick'. It was a very smooth and satisfying experience for me.

I did perform the entire Concerto on my Senior Recital, later that year using a second pianist (we made some judicious cuts in the First Movement orchestral tutti for time element). I would have loved to perform the entire concerto with orchestra, but it just wasn't possible. The conductor joked that if I'd chosen a 'shorter' work, something like the Franck "Variationes Symphoniques", we could have done the whole thing.

Actually, two years later, we did perform an 'entire' Concerto together, when I played the Ravel Concerto for Left Hand for one of my Graduate recitals. THAT was an experience!

Tom


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## ScipioAfricanus (Jan 7, 2010)

thanks Tom. Wow, performing Brahms 1st must have been an experience. I know many people like the Rach 3. But hats off to you.


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## Sebastien Melmoth (Apr 14, 2010)

Undoubtedly the *Double Concerto Op. 102*--late, great quintessential Brahms with syncopated rhythms and innervating dissonances.

The gorgeous D-major *Andante* (whose lyrical tune is used in inversion) is an erotic masculine/feminine operatic dialogue sung without words...


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## maestro267 (Jul 25, 2009)

Piano Concerto No. 1 is one of those pieces where the ending to the first movement is more climactic than the ending of the whole piece.


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