These performances mount the only severe contest as a finish set to the Leon Fleisher/George Szell versions on Sony Classical. Emil Gilels was an extraordinary virtuoso who decisive to place his technical wizardry in the service of the most disciplined and demanding classical masterpieces. No piano concertos live up to this description more than the two by Brahms. Himself a pianist, Brahms placed each strictly musical stumbling block that he could in front of the soloist–only audiences never detect because there’s no gratuitous display at all. A performer who has not mastered these pieces doesn’t inevitably miss notes; he or she just bores everyone to tears. Well, Gilels is never dull, and neither is Eugen Jochum, whose spontaneous-sounding yet sensible accompaniments help his soloist each step of the way. –David Hurwitz
Emil Gilels is magisterial in these concertos, his playing volcanic and poetic at the same time. Eugen Jochum and the Berlin Philharmonic add significant grandeur to the undertaking, spanning Brahms’s long developmental arches with convincing sureness. Within the warm ambience of Berlin’s Jesus-Christus-Kirche, where both concertos were recorded in June of 1972, the engineers do a good occupation of capturing the pianist’s ringing tone. –Ted Libbey
Emil Gilels In Concert Gilels Plays Photo
Emil Gilels In Concert Gilels Plays Picture
Emil Gilels In Concert Gilels Plays Picture
Emil Gilels In Concert Gilels Plays Pic
Emil Gilels In Concert Gilels Plays Pic
Emil Gilels In Concert Gilels Plays Image
Most helpful customer reviews
64 of 67 people found the following review helpful.
 Heroic – and my favorite reading hands down
By Joey Joe Joe Jr. Shabadoo
These readings are legendary. I searched and searched for a good set, first trying Zimerman/Bernstein (horrid recording quality, saggy accompaniment) then trying some older recordings (Katchen/Ferencik, Kovacevich/Davis, Rubinstein/Ormandy), then even a different version by the same performer (Gilels/Reiner/CSO) and finally going to an old favorite of mine on the keyboard (Pollini/Abbado). In all cases, I was not really a fan of a) either the ensembles’ un-Brahmsian (in my opinion) accompaniment or b) the soloists’ interpretations or execution. However, these recordings, when I first bought them in the old DG Galleria release, were a revelation. Gilels’ playing can best be described as monumental, and Jochum’s direction is Brahmsian to the core. Jochum, who always excelled in music of this level of grandeur (listen to his Bruckner!), constructs a firm yet supple orchestral line which perfectly complements Gilels, who is by turns elemental and serene. These are magical performances, and the result is a rarity in that both concertos are amongst the greatest ever readings of the works (especially for #2; only Fleisher/Szell, Backhaus/Bohm and Anda/Fricsay come close – #1 has serious competition from Fleisher/Szell and Curzon/Szell). For the sake of comparison, in #2, the Fleisher and Backhaus sound rushed next to this performance, particularly the Fleisher; and while the Anda reading is much closer in terms of overall approach – ultra-legato – Anda stumbles occassionally during some of the most fiendish passages where Gilels does not. In Concerto #1, I’m a bit divided, as both the expansive performance on this disc and Szell’s quick, incisive and direct accompaniment work equally well.
I suppose I should also mention that the Fantasias, op. 116, are masterfully interpreted here and are the best I’ve heard, far above and beyond Kempff, Katchen or Lupu. It’s a great filler, although it would be insulting to call them that. A pity Gilels didn’t live long enough to record Opp. 117-119. One final minor annoyance: I don’t understand what happened to the Ballades Op. 10, which used to be included in the old Galleria release.
As for the sound: with the new DG Originals transfer, the sound finally matches the performances; gone are the whiny strings and the somewhat hollow sound from the original transfer, and in its place we have a recording that sounds almost brand new, with great clarity in the brass, piano, and orchestral forces. The liner notes are a little weak, which I’ve noticed on a lot of these “Originals” releases.
With all that being said: If you must only have one recording of these two concertos, then this is the one to get. Truly desert island stuff.
48 of 51 people found the following review helpful.
a truly great recording
By Frank Bunyard
To my mind neither Eugen Jochum nor Emil Gilels received the acclaim appropriate to their genius while they were living. Even now it appears they are appreciated mainly by a small clique of true classical music lovers.
34 of 35 people found the following review helpful.
FAVORITE PIANO CONCERTI
By GEORGE RANNIE
Brahms’s monumental piano concertos are my very favorite piano concertos. Therefore, I own many recordings of same. Nevertheless, this recording with Gilels and Jochum is my absolute favorite! It is a recording that I’ve listened to, at least, once a week for many years. Gilels and Jochum truly play these “monsters of the form” wonderfully capturing Brahms’s fierceness as well as his tenderness beautifully.
Truth be known, I slightly prefer the 1st concerto-I know that is a musical sacrilege. My god, Gilels plays the hell out of that work delivering those (what I call) “trills of death” in the first movement in such a manner that it still sends chills up and down my spine no matter how many time I have listened to the work.
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