Staatskapelle Berlin & Gustavo Dudamel - Brahms: The Piano Concertos (2015)

Daniel Barenboim was overjoyed to be standing in the foyer of the Chamber Music Room of the Berlin Philharmonie on 2 September 2014. He had just finished playing Brahmss two piano concertos in the main auditorium. And now he was waxing enthusiastic about
Gustavo Dudamel, who had appeared alongside him as the conductor of the Berlin Staatskapelle. Whenever I had to play myself, I was able to count on him completely. And when I didnt have to play, it was a joy to see how well he works with the orchestra. Im well placed to make this observation as Ive been playing these concertos since 1958.

Barenboim has recorded Brahmss piano concertos on several previous occasions and always with partners who have meant a lot to him. One such partner was Sir John Barbirolli, who accompanied him with the New Philharmonia in 1967 and who was an important mentor of his. His next recording followed a good two decades later, this time with the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta, who has been one of Barenboims closest friends since 1956. Although performing both concertos on a single evening represents a tour de force, Barenboim has frequently included them in the same programme, most notably with Sergiu Celibidache in Munich in 1991 and with Mehta in Berlin in 2002, when the pianist was marking his sixtieth birthday.

For Daniel Barenboim, both concertos are loyal companions that bear witness to his own journey through life, providing a connection with Brahms himself: in the course of his life, Brahms played the First Piano Concerto thirty-five times, the Second Piano Concerto some forty times. And it was as the conductor of both these works with Eugen d Albert as the soloist that Brahms bade farewell to the stage in Berlin on 10 January 1896.
Jan Brachmann


Recorded live at the Philharmonie, Berlin, 1 3 September 2014
Berliner Festspiele / Musikfest Berlin
Teldex Studio Berlin: Friedemann Engelbrecht, Audio Producer · René Moeller, Recording Engineer (Tonmeister) · Clemens Deller, Assistant Engineer · Sebastian Nattkemper, Sound Editor
Unitel: Magdalena Herbst, Producer
Deutsche Grammophon: Executive Producer: Ute Fesquet · Project Manager: Burkhard Bartsc