Search - Johannes Brahms, Idil Biret :: Brahms: Hungarian Dances; Waltzes, Op. 39

Youthful Brahms...

Sébastien Melmoth | Hôtel d'Alsace, PARIS | 04/13/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

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It may surprize some to learn that Brahms as a younger man produced a set of waltzes for piano duet--(i.e., four-hands at one piano).



It was an highly commercial career move: in 1865 he dedicated and sent his 16 Waltzes Op. 39 to Eduard Hanslick, music critic of the New Free Press, and doyen of musical affairs in that most musical of cities, Vienna. (It was Hanslick who originated that immortally offensive phrase, "music which stinks to the ear" [!]. This same Hanslick virtually single-handedly inaugurated the infamous "War of the Romantics," artifically pitting Brahms and cohorts against Lizst, Wagner, Bruckner, and Wolf, et alii.



As history well knows, Brahms was sucessful with Hanslick--who could play Brahms' Waltzes with sultry Viennese ladies in their intimate parlour-lovemaking sessions...



But unfortunately, Brahms' Op. 39 Waltzes are rarely heard today, which is a pity because they form a wonderful set which clearly adumbrates Brahms' later great piano works, viz. the Rhapsodies, Capriccii, and Intermezzi of Opp. 116-19.



This disc features the solo piano arrangement Brahms made in 1867.



With regards to Chopin, No. 11 in b-minor is probably the most "Chopinesque" of the Waltzes. But while Chopin's Waltzes are all individuals, too possibly Brahms' original versions for piano duet, it seems to me that this version for soloist Brahms intended to be played as an unified set. For there seems aurally to be an overall aesthetic progressive vision to the grouping.



For example, Nos. 5 and 12 are both in E-major, similar in ethos, and bracket Nos. 7, 8, and 9 (c#, Bb, and d, respectively) which likewise form a small aesthetic group within the set.



Nos. 13 (B) and 14 (g#) are highly rhapsodic and suggestive of the later echt-Brahmsian Op. 79 Rhapsodies.



All finally leading up to the very apex of the set: the exquisitely lovely Waltz No. 15 in Ab.

No. 16 may be seen as a coda to the set.



This satisfying disc also features the (in-)famous "Hungarian" Dances in Brahms' original version for solo piano--which in many ways works better than the subsequent transmogrifications. These are the pieces Brahms himself would have frequently played to introduce himself to Viennese society at salon soirées early in his career.



The beautiful Idil Biret is the Brahmsian par excellence.



See too:

Brahms: Four Hand Piano Music, Vol.2

Brahms: Hungarian Dances; Waltzes

Brahms - Liebeslieder-Walzer Op. 52 & Op. 65 / E. Mathis, Fassbaender, Schreier, Fischer-Dieskau, K. Engel, Sawallisch

Brahms: Four Hand Piano Music, Vol. 1

Brahms: Waltzes for piano/Song Transcriptions

Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 2; Five Waltzes

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Enchanting

David Saemann | 10/14/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If the thought of having a Turkish pianist play Brahms doesn't seem promising, think again. Idil Biret studied with Wilhelm Kempff, a supreme stylist in the 19th Century German repertoire. Biret's take on the familiar Waltzes is filled with gemutlichkeit. Her tone is rich and affectionate, as is her playing in general. In the Hungarian Dances, she plays with all her much vaunted virtuosity. Her interpretation is idiomatic and loving. The sound engineer is Martin Sauer, who has gone on to work for Harmonia Mundi. He has captured Biret's piano tone in an agreeable acoustic that reinforces the details of her playing. I am very fond of the Brahms solo piano sets by Gerhard Oppitz and Martin Jones, but Idil Biret is definitely in their league."