Leif Ove Andsnes, Simon Rattle - Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1, Intermezzi op. 117 (1998)

This performance of the Piano Concerto won't be to everyone's taste. Leif Ove Andsnes, who has a decided point of view on the music, plays with his emphasis on the lyrical aspects of the music. He could obviously play the heroic outbursts of the first movement as strongly as he wants to, but he downplays them somewhat to keep them in context. You can get more excitement in other places, but only Curzon and Moravec have made this concerto such a poetic, emotional experience. Simon Rattle and the orchestra second Andsnes's viewpoint very convincingly. The Intermezzi, already elegiac in tone, are particularly affecting as Andsnes plays them; this "bonus" could easily be worth the price of the disc. -- Leslie Gerber