Another disc of Brahms's Op116-119, these lovely 4 books of 20 pieces are full of the most tremendous invention, i'm sure that Brahms was 'intimidated' by Beethoven, his very earliest works were 3 Piano Sonatas, but they weren't a great success, and he wrote no more, in many ways he concentrated on the Variation form for his solo piano pieces, but toward the end of his life he created these books of piano pieces, maybe he composed them and didn't know how else to issue them, so they became books of clumps of pieces, certainly Piano Sonatas can have a sense of wonderful architecture, but when a piece is freed from such constraints, then each piece can stand on its own, it's not necessarily dependant on those pieces beside it, it takes on a life of its own, this is the first time i've listened to this disc, in fact it's the first time i've listened to Stefan Vladar also, and i like this disc greatly, i listened to it during my walk to / from Church.
Stefan Vladar was born in Austria, he is now 47, he made this recording in 2003, the booklet photo is by Alvaro Yanez, a side profile of Vladar, nicely lit from the front, nice use of the interlocked hands, great stuff, i like the contours.
These 7 pieces were a revelation, in fact the Op116 pieces are the Brahms set i know the least, so surprisingly it felt at times that they were completely new to me, as if i was hearing some Brahms for the very first time, the piece that really stuck out was the Op116/2, called an Intermezzo by Brahms, it's truly fabulous, it starts off very ordinary in a way, but it's so deceptive, it's in the key of A Minor, after the opening, and a more complex variation of the opening, the real magic begins, as Brahms throws the piece into a cascade of tolling bells [1:05-1:45], it's so sadly beautiful, and the perfect antidote to the opening, then Brahms seemingly spoils the spell, as he introduces new music which seems so ordinary by comparison [1:45+], but again Brahms surprises us by subtly changing the music to sound more interesting and affecting [2:00+], the opening returns, but in such a subtle way as it's blended in without a seam [2:34+], however the tolling bells don't come back, and this is a little message to me to savour them all the more when i hear them for the first and only time, the piece ends on on a quiet but deep bass notes [3:39-3:53], i'm a better person for listening to this today.
Here's Tanja Morozova playing Brahms's Intermezzo Op116/2 on YouTube.
Here's Tanja Morozova playing Brahms's Intermezzo Op116/2 on YouTube.
