GIORGIO KOUKL | 21 JUN 2021 for EarRelevant
We probably will never know the exact number of piano sonatas written by Johannes Brahms. Many of them probably were destroyed or maybe found their way partially into other works. The fact that he retained the First Piano Sonata and sent it to the editor Simrock, together with an enthusiastic letter of recommendation from Robert Schumann gives us a certain degree about how much he valued this work.
Brahms: Sonatas 1 & 2, Rhapsodies Op. 79
Garrick Ohlsson, piano
Release: July 2, 2021
Hyperion (CDA68334)
Format: CD & digital download
The music critic Eduard Hanslick believed that he could discern the influence of Brahms’s older colleague when he wrote about the Sonata Op. 5: “The whole of Brahms is here, though still under the spell of Schumann.” Some other scholars noticed the vicinity of the Beethoven Sonata Op. 106.
In any case, it is a fully mature work for such a young composer and with its four movements (“Allegro,” “Andante,” “Allegro molto e con fuoco,” “Allegro con fuoco”) lasts approximately 30 minutes. The second movement is based on a German folk song “Verstohlen geht der Mond auf” (“Stealthily the moon rises”) which Brahms used again decades later in two versions for chorus.
Written in 1852-53 it has since gained wide popularity among pianists and is today one of the most played works of the great Hamburg master.
The Ohlsson rendering is very classical, well balanced and extremely well recorded.
After listening to his version I didn’t resist to pass the rest of the day digging in my collection of old LPs only to discover that maybe only the Svjatoslav Richter version was clearly superior.
The listener here has to keep moving within a world of well-established ways of playing Brahms, where doing something different would be quite difficult if not impossible. The differences of various renderings are minimal, sometimes so tiny that only listening to the passage many times with a score in hand reveals a slightly different approach.
In this sense Garrick Ohlsson has done his best. What may be is lacking here is a genuine moment of surprise, a way of playing never dared before, a real intuition of unknown. Ohlsson is clearly superior in piano sound and, given that all the CD was recorded in three days only, he is also extremely powerful despite his age. Richter is far more subtle and refines his musical phrases with a great sense of elegance.
But it is the last movement, with all the jumps which requests near ubiquity from the right hand, which is the real touchstone of the whole sonata. Here the genuine quality of a pianist emerges mercilessly. The young generations usually never resist to simply bang the notes down which is a real pity and staying calm evidently requests decades of experience.
Here, I am afraid, Ohlsson simply does not deploy enough power compared to far more breathtaking versions such as that of Grigori Sokolov. The tempi chosen may be lyrical, but they simply lack the necessary impetus. The dynamic range stays well behind the possibilities of modern Steinways.
It is well known that the Second Sonata was written before the first, a fact very common between the composers, just to remember one of many other similar actions: Chopin has written his second piano concerto before the first one.
The slightly shorter sonata with its equally four movements (“Allegro non troppo, ma energico,” “Andante con espressione,” “Scherzo: Allegro-Poco più moderato,” “Finale: Sostenuto – Allegro non troppo e rubato – Molto sostenuto”) had the bad luck of being less considered, partly because it is so non-Brahmsian, probably to please his friend and mentor Robert Schumann, partly to impress Clara Schumann with its gigantic technical difficulties.
All the well known pianistic difficulties are present in this work. Once again, there might be more perfect renderings on the market, but this time I would say Mr. Ohlsson delivers pristine and impressive technical supremacy. Especially the so hard to play double octaves passages are equally clean and musically well balanced.
The insidious similarity of thematic material of all four movements is perfectly shaded and never have the tendency to sound repetitive.
The last two tracks on the Hyperion CD are dedicated to the two Rhapsodies op. 79. This music, now fully Brahms style, was written well over a quarter of a century later and this can be heard and experimented from the introductory chords.
The first one in B minor, marked “Agitato,” is the real and natural playground for Mr. Ohlsson. Now he is clearly in command. The so difficult to interpret continuous changes between percussive and lyrical passages are marvelously natural, never artificial but very logical.
The second one in G minor: “Molto passionato ma non troppo allegro” is probably the best known piece of the whole CD. Once again Mr. Ohlsson delivers solid craftsmanship with no frills.
Hyperion furnishes their usual high level combination of a well written booklet, informative and graphically perfect, together with a perfect technical background for the recording — today rather a rarity.
This album is an easy recommendation for anyone who loves Brahms, just don’t expect something boundary breaking or new. ■
EarRelevant
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