No one “needs” new Brahms piano concertos. But no one can deny artists the right to “give it a try”. And sometimes what we hear there happens and which is missing in 90 or 95% of recordings: a fever, a visceral commitment, a desire to ask questions and not to take interpretative traditions at face value. Captured during multiple concerts in a fairly close and somewhat colorful manner in the Cologne hall with its very “clinical” acoustics, these two concertos are nourished not only by a permanent animation, but also by a reflection on the phrasing, scales and piano-orchestra interaction. Why, in the 2e Concerto, do habits induce here and there small periods of waiting which fragment the speech while a precise sequence gives it so much tension? These challenges mean that Simon Trpčeski and Cristian Măcelaru grab Brahms, strip him (with, also, new highlights in the orchestra), and it is jubilant.
To watch on video