Maurizio Pollini, Wiener Philharmoniker, Karl Böhm - Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 (1987)

It's a very gemutlich interpretation, and if you like to hear the first movement taken by the scruff of the neck and shaken, you won't get it here. There's an underlying melancholy that both Leinsdorf and Berman seem attuned to, and as a result the mood carries into the second movement, which is played with great delicacy, Leinsdorf relishing the almost chamber-music quality of some of the writing. The Chicago winds are splendid here, giving an almost nocturne-like feel to this movement. The finale is well-played too, but I've heard more sparkle -- Serkin, for instance, really seems to approach it more athletically. Still, there's a consonance among the three movements here that gives a nice unity to the whole reading.