Search - Brahms, Richter-Haaser, Karajan :: Karajan Conducts Brahms: Piano Concerto 2

Go for the piano concerto; the "Haydn" is just filler

Michael B. Richman | 03/02/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Hans Richter Haaser was one of the great old school pianists of the '50s and early '60s. He excelled in some of the warhorses of the mid-19th century repertoire. And that's where he stayed. You wouldn't necessarily want him for Bartok (!!) or for Shostakovich, but he was great with Brahms and Beethoven.
The recording of the Brahms #2 is a gem, although a bit dated. I take the point from the previous reviewer that Richter Haaser was eclipsed in intensity and bravura by the Serkins, Gilels, and others. However, in this particular recording, I believe his eloquence of phrasing betters most other comers (and I've heard them all.)This is a glowing, old school rendition. Sound is acceptable, not tremendous, so if you need clean sonics and pyrotechnics there are better versions. However, I'll stick with this one.
In a similar vein, Testament has just released Richter-Haaser doing Beethoven's 4th and 5th piano concerti.....same feel.There ought to be a moratorium on using Haydn variations for filler. This rendition is nothing special; HVK did better himself later in life. If you don't have these AND you haven't heard Richter-Haaser, then you get a bonus."

Beautiful Brahms, But...

Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 08/15/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I got this CD from Amazon.com and seemingly purchased the last one. This was the final title I needed in the EMI "Karajan Edition" series, which I have collected because I am a big fan of the conductor. Not to mention that the works featured here, Variations on a Theme by Haydn and the 2nd Piano Concerto, are my favorites by Brahms, along with the 3rd and 4th Symphonies. So if I like Herbie and these pieces, what's with the four star rating? Well, it's the little things that bug me about this disc. First, note to all CD manufacturers: Never put a "Variations" (whether it's this one or Rachmaninov's Paganini Variations) first on a disc with a Piano Concerto. There is nothing more annoying than having to track through all those Variations to get to the bread and butter performance, the Concerto! Second, while I love the Haydn Variations, particularly Variation I, Karajan tries to make it sound like an adventure in hi-fi, and there is way too much resonance in the lower registers. Save the orchestral showpiece performances for Also Sprach Zarathustra! Third, there is a noticeable splice during the transition from the solo piano part to the orchestral entrance in the first movement of the Concerto. Surely the engineers could have done better. Fourth and lastly, while Hans Richter-Haaser performs admirably on piano, he certainly doesn't bring as much to the work as do Fleisher, Gilels, Katchen, or Serkin. With all those negative critiques you'd think I hate this disc. Sure there are better buys, but for an aspiring collector such as myself, recordings like this are surprisingly essential despite their deficiencies."