Brahms - Piano Concerto 1 [Ax/Levine-Chicago Symphony Orchestra]
Well it rained today, i didn't get an insirational walk to Church, instead i took the bus, but i played this on the way, my batteries ran out on my portable near the end of the first movement, and yet this worked out to be a blessing, i put fresh batteries in, and found my place where it closed down, this made me sort of bookmark the place, and made listen to the coda more intensely, a lovely moment, soft thuds on the timpani, what a tremendous Brahms invention is.
Emanuel Ax i guess is Russian originally, but now he has American citizenship, he's now 62, and he made this recording in 1983, the front photograph is a good one [by Nick Sangiamo].
Here's on Emanuel Ax playing the first movement on YouTube, with Bernard Haitink conducting.
