Brahms 6 Klavierstücke, Op.118
Brahms 6 Klavierstücke, Op.118
My perennial love for the music of Johannes Brahms knows no limits. Tonight it's the 6 Klavierstücke, Op.118. What a pleasure reading and listening!!
http://ks.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usim ... _Sauer.pdf
My favourite recording of the work is an early version by Stephen Kovacevich, released on Philips, which isn't available on U-Tube.
A performance of the work by Julius Katchen can be heard on U-Tube, but it is downloaded in six separate parts, so I've just provided the Intermezzo in A Major:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZLxOdlW9Vo
http://ks.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usim ... _Sauer.pdf
My favourite recording of the work is an early version by Stephen Kovacevich, released on Philips, which isn't available on U-Tube.
A performance of the work by Julius Katchen can be heard on U-Tube, but it is downloaded in six separate parts, so I've just provided the Intermezzo in A Major:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZLxOdlW9Vo
Re: Brahms 6 Klavierstücke, Op.118
For me, the most beautiful recording of op. 118 is by Wilhelm Kempff - not the DG stereo version, in which the piano tone is rather dry, but the freer Decca/London recording of the 1950s. Unfortunately it's not on YouTube, but here's Kempff's op. 117 no. 1 from 1953 to give an idea.
John Francis
Re: Brahms 6 Klavierstücke, Op.118
Absolute perfection; it's an intimate and tender conversation, isn't it.
Re: Brahms 6 Klavierstücke, Op.118
Younger Helene Grimaud's recording is also worth hearing, originally on an Erato cd I have, and perhaps her first solo recording (?).I believe this may be it, unfortunately in 6 separate pieces on YT :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVanJyN2u6U ( Op.118,No.1 )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVanJyN2u6U ( Op.118,No.1 )
Re: Brahms 6 Klavierstücke, Op.118
Thanks, Belle for bringing up some of my favorite piano music. I'll have to try the Stephen Bishop, and here is my current favorite recording of the three cycles:
Re: Brahms 6 Klavierstücke, Op.118
This link wouldn't play here in Australia, but I've always found Grimaud an interesting musician. Yesterday afternoon I was watching an excerpt from a MediciTV performance on U-Tube from Verbier 2007 (which is no longer available on that channel) of Grimaud accompanying Thomas Quasthoff in Schumann's Dichterlieder. It was only very brief, but tantalizing.Rach3 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 12, 2018 9:47 amYounger Helene Grimaud's recording is also worth hearing, originally on an Erato cd I have, and perhaps her first solo recording (?).I believe this may be it, unfortunately in 6 separate pieces on YT :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVanJyN2u6U ( Op.118,No.1 )
Re: Brahms 6 Klavierstücke, Op.118
I haven't heard of this pianist, but I did listen to this following your comments:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TukTLnk2sXg
Brahms seems deceptively easy on keyboard, but it requires a great nuance of touch and expression to prevent it from becoming too chunky, tangled and chordal. A (late) friend of mine was a broadcaster on our nationwide ABC-FM classical network. He used to say on air that the piano under the hands of Brahms "shows all its teeth"!!
And here's Radu Lupu playing Op. 117: his is a fine performance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6Fq5GhUwgA
-
- Site Administrator
- Posts: 20773
- Joined: Fri Mar 25, 2005 1:27 am
- Location: Binghamton, New York
- Contact:
Re: Brahms 6 Klavierstücke, Op.118
Ah, the Brahms pieces! I have the Katchen on Decca and Audite, Gieseking's EMI recordings (now on Appian), Kubalek on Dorian, all by Kempff on Decca and DGG, Volodos on Sony, Richter on Eurodisc, Egon Petri, Grimaud (Erato), and Lupu. I have been most touched by the recordings of Radu Lupu on Decca, just about anything he has recorded by Brahms. There are many other recordings, but nobody I know can have them all!
Lance G. Hill
Editor-in-Chief
______________________________________________________
When she started to play, Mr. Steinway came down and personally
rubbed his name off the piano. [Speaking about pianist &*$#@+#]
Editor-in-Chief
______________________________________________________
When she started to play, Mr. Steinway came down and personally
rubbed his name off the piano. [Speaking about pianist &*$#@+#]
Re: Brahms 6 Klavierstücke, Op.118
I just looked up Nicholas Angelich on Wiki and discovered these photos!! Be still, my beating heart:
https://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl ... E3oECAYQBg
https://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl ... E3oECAYQBg
-
- Military Band Specialist
- Posts: 26856
- Joined: Wed Jan 28, 2004 10:15 pm
- Location: Stony Creek, New York
Re: Brahms 6 Klavierstücke, Op.118
Well, there are all those CDs, which is fine, but the solo piano works of Brahms are horrendously neglected as recital works. When was the last time you heard one programmed, and I don't just mean the Beethoven-bagatelle-inspired works of the late years, as great as they are? I was going to make this an essay, but enough said.
There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself.
-- Johann Sebastian Bach
-
- Posts: 3195
- Joined: Tue May 20, 2003 11:01 am
- Contact:
Re: Brahms 6 Klavierstücke, Op.118
Of course, no one who knows me will be surprised that my favorite recording of these works is the one by Bruce Hungerford, which is now on Youtube:
https://youtu.be/Sd5nzUyNw0w
And, if anyone is interested, I am about to release the only video of Hungerford's playing, a DVD of the Beethoven Fourth Piano Concerto with Boris Khaikin and the Berlin Staatskapelle (1964). Also included on the DVD is a performance of the Mussorgsky/Rimsky-Korsakoff Night On Bald Mountain with the same ensemble and conductor.
https://youtu.be/Sd5nzUyNw0w
And, if anyone is interested, I am about to release the only video of Hungerford's playing, a DVD of the Beethoven Fourth Piano Concerto with Boris Khaikin and the Berlin Staatskapelle (1964). Also included on the DVD is a performance of the Mussorgsky/Rimsky-Korsakoff Night On Bald Mountain with the same ensemble and conductor.
Last edited by Donald Isler on Tue Nov 13, 2018 11:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
Donald Isler
Re: Brahms 6 Klavierstücke, Op.118
Thanks for that link, Donald. I look forward to getting that DVD. Please let us know when it's released.Donald Isler wrote: ↑Tue Nov 13, 2018 8:55 amOf course, no one who knows me will be surprised that my favorite recording of these works is the one by Bruce Hungerford, which is now on Youtube:
https://youtu.be/Sd5nzUyNw0w
And, if anyone is interested, I am about to release the only video of Hungerford's playing, a DVD of the Beethoven Fourth Piano Concerto with Boris Khaikin and the Berlin Staatskapelle (1964). Also included on the DVD is a performance of the Mussorgsky/Rimsky-Korsakoff Night On Blad Mountain with the same ensemble and conductor.
Re: Brahms 6 Klavierstücke, Op.118
Belle:)
Thank you for the Angelich link. I'm just now listening to his Rachmaninoff III/3, and find it miraculous that he can play the opening at such a fast tempo. Astounding! The Brahms that precedes it is quite fine, as is the Brahms I concerto that follows. A great concert!
Thank you for the Angelich link. I'm just now listening to his Rachmaninoff III/3, and find it miraculous that he can play the opening at such a fast tempo. Astounding! The Brahms that precedes it is quite fine, as is the Brahms I concerto that follows. A great concert!
Re: Brahms 6 Klavierstücke, Op.118
Just did a search on amazon, and found the set below. It would appear that Angelich has a special relationship with Brahms, and has recorded the 10CD set pictured, along with the Capucon brothers, who, IMHO, are two of the finest string players of their generations. IF you're interested in Brahms as he is interpreted today, I strongly recommend this bargain set which I predict will contain some extraordinarily good music-making. I ordered it for roughly $19 including shipping. I'm listening now to the Paavo Jarvi/Angelich performance of Brahms I, and it's just right in my comfort zone.
Re: Brahms 6 Klavierstücke, Op.118
I did listen to that very Brahms #1 with Angelich/Järvi/Orchestre de Paris last night before bed!! (Can anyone tell us why they think that cover was over the lid of the grand piano?)maestrob wrote: ↑Tue Nov 13, 2018 11:48 amJust did a search on amazon, and found the set below. It would appear that Angelich has a special relationship with Brahms, and has recorded the 10CD set pictured, along with the Capucon brothers, who, IMHO, are two of the finest string players of their generations. IF you're interested in Brahms as he is interpreted today, I strongly recommend this bargain set which I predict will contain some extraordinarily good music-making. I ordered it for roughly $19 including shipping. I'm listening now to the Paavo Jarvi/Angelich performance of Brahms I, and it's just right in my comfort zone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnOVi91cRCk
To think the people in that first performance of the work, with Brahms at the keyboard in Leipzig (or Hamburg?), gave it the thumbs down so badly. Brahms never forgot that rebuke!! An early work and a very wonderful one. Did I happen to mention that I adore Brahms? Adore, I say!! Thank you for introducing me to the pianism of Nicholas Angelich.
And another form of beauty and athleticism today; the sublimity of Roger Federer playing Austrian Dominic Thiem. Both have the grace and power of a keyboard virtuoso.
Re: Brahms 6 Klavierstücke, Op.118
By coincidence , pianist Paul Lewis last night live in London playing the Brahms Op.116 complete, and the complete Beethoven Op.33 Bagatelles , just listening now to Op.116, like what I'm hearing:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0001788
While today's youngsters do seem to program the Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 and 3 occasionally, and the Handel and Paganini Variations with some frequency, the Sonata No.2 ,wonderful Op.4 Scherzo,Opa.9 and 18 Variations,and even the Op.10 Ballades ( at least complete beyond # 1 ) seem rare, but my vantage may be too limited.
Katchen plays the Brahms Op.4 Scherzo : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaS6NnwoaC4
-
- Military Band Specialist
- Posts: 26856
- Joined: Wed Jan 28, 2004 10:15 pm
- Location: Stony Creek, New York
Re: Brahms 6 Klavierstücke, Op.118
Donald, not that I needed an excuse, but out of respect for your continued feelings for your late teacher, I listened to the whole thing. Perhaps his greatest memorial is that he had a pupil like yourself.Donald Isler wrote: ↑Tue Nov 13, 2018 8:55 amOf course, no one who knows me will be surprised that my favorite recording of these works is the one by Bruce Hungerford, which is now on Youtube:
https://youtu.be/Sd5nzUyNw0w
And, if anyone is interested, I am about to release the only video of Hungerford's playing, a DVD of the Beethoven Fourth Piano Concerto with Boris Khaikin and the Berlin Staatskapelle (1964). Also included on the DVD is a performance of the Mussorgsky/Rimsky-Korsakoff Night On Bald Mountain with the same ensemble and conductor.
There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself.
-- Johann Sebastian Bach
-
- Posts: 3195
- Joined: Tue May 20, 2003 11:01 am
- Contact:
-
- Posts: 3195
- Joined: Tue May 20, 2003 11:01 am
- Contact:
Re: Brahms 6 Klavierstücke, Op.118
(Since Hungerford and Beethoven were mentioned on this thread) If anyone is interested in the new Hungerford DVD they are supposed to arrive today. Anyone is welcome to send me an email with your name and address if you'd like to receive a flyer. Thanks for any interest.
Donald Isler
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 22 guests