Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 83, is amply represented on recordings, with available versions numbering in the triple digits. Pianist Lars Vogt thus faced the challenge of standing out from the crowd, and he surmounts the challenge impressively. To begin with, he conducts the Royal Northern Sinfonia from the keyboard, not a common thing with the Brahms concertos (he has also recorded the Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15, in this way). Better still, he forges an interpretation that would have been ...
Read More
Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 83, is amply represented on recordings, with available versions numbering in the triple digits. Pianist Lars Vogt thus faced the challenge of standing out from the crowd, and he surmounts the challenge impressively. To begin with, he conducts the Royal Northern Sinfonia from the keyboard, not a common thing with the Brahms concertos (he has also recorded the Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15, in this way). Better still, he forges an interpretation that would have been difficult to achieve with a separate conductor. Vogt takes serious liberties with the tempo, sometimes diverging from Brahms' explicit and abundant markings. One need listen no further than the very beginning to hear the effect, with the music speeding up a good deal after a few moments. The tempo rubato continues throughout, mixed with an unusual emphasis on the symphonic aspects of Brahms' score like the unusually varied orchestration with its chamber-like passages forming a third...
Read Less
![Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 [Lars Vogt; Royal Northern Sinfonia] [Ondine: Ode 1346-2]](https://www2.alibris-static.com/cover/o62706fxmk1_t.jpg)
Portions of content provided by Rovi Corporation. © 2024 Rovi Corporation.