Brahms - 4 Klavierstucke Op119 [Angelich]These two discs are fantastic, an endless amount of joy from Angelich / Brahms, it's so good to hear the genius of Brahms in the piano miniature, yes miniature is length, but these are big statements in content, Brahms composed three early Piano Sonatas, i feel he was awed by the supreme command of the medium that Beethoven had, and he knew that he just couldn't match up, so his forte was the shorter Klavierstucke, a short composition from 2 to 6 minutes long, all bound up books of different sizes, and they work so much better than his Piano Sonatas, these were thrilling today, i played this work back in 2010 [2nd November 2010].
Nicholas Angelich is american, he is now 42, but i thought that he was older, he recorded this double disc set of Brahms in 2007, the front cover booklet is fantastic, showing Angelich sitting on a chair, turned the wrong way around, the back lighting of brown hues is excellent, and the letting, central to the page really works, especially the dash of blue, a really good shot.
On the whole Angelich takes his time over Op116-119, to the point that he spills over onto a second disc, Helene Grimaud fits them all onto a single disc, but Angelich is certainly thoughtful and poetic, even though sometimes it's at the expense of the flow of the piece, also i don't feel that he hits the real notes of distinction, the ultimate moments of Brahms which needs to be emphasized, certain zeniths? that just need to be lighted on and lingered on for an especial effect, i feel he misses that, on this listen it was the last piece of the set that i found inspirational,
Here's Jorge Blaso playing the Fourth Klavierstucke of Op119 on YouTube.
