Brahms
Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2
Simon Trpčeski (piano); WDR Sinfonieorchester/Cristian Măcelaru
Linn Records CKD732 95:15 mins (2 discs)
You might think you don’t need another recording of the Brahms piano concertos. Well, you need this one. It is a splendid showcase, not just for the performers, but for the music: it has such a pleasing, expansive warmth and sense of relish. Apart from anything else, it sounds as if the performers are having the time of their lives.
Simon Trpčeski’s playing has always had a touch of brilliance, which has ample chance to glitter, but he doesn’t stint on the requisite grandeur of sound. Granitey octaves often alternate with rounded legato; and his sense of rubato is superb, with a subtle holding-back at key moments, as in the second theme of the D minor’s first movement. There’s a beautiful sense of balance and line, phrased with a natural ebb and flow while bringing out the songfulness. He and Măcelaru seem to bounce ideas off one another as the character of the themes emerges and gels.
That vivid characterisation is deeply rewarding: an extra dug-in expansiveness to the big, sweeping string melodies, for instance, but also a magically hushed atmosphere to the dreamlike exchange between piano and clarinets near the end of the B flat slow movement. Key players make the most of spotlit moments, including an eloquent cello soloist in that same movement; more unusually, the orchestral fugato in the D minor’s finale is a treat in itself, being so clearly balanced and elegantly expressed, as if finished with silken ribbon.The recorded sound is as deep and as warm as you could wish for Brahms. Jessica Duchen
