# 100 Favorites: # 19



## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

*Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1; *Schumann: Introduction and Allegro; *Mendelssohn: Capriccio Brillant
Rudolf Serkin, George Szell, Cleveland Orchestra; *Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra (Sony)*










Forced to pick just one, I suppose Brahms' First is my favorite concerto, and the Serkin/Szell recording is _certainly_ my favorite performance. Brahms' music is full of contradictions and this performance bears them out. It's tender and forceful, dramatic and melancholic, fiery and reflective. Coursing through it all, there's a sense of noble strength that suffuses the performance like a golden sunset -- that special Brahmsian glow. Honestly, I'm trying not to gush, but it's _that_ good. I only wish the sound quality was a better. It's the only (slight) blemish on an otherwise perfect record. By the way, the Schumann and Mendelssohn works are fine. But the Brahms is the main attraction.


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