Brahms: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2; Haydn Variations; Tragic Overture; Academic Festival Overture

Disc 1
1	Concerto for Piano no 1 i / Johannes Brahms
2	Concerto for Piano no 1 i / Johannes Brahms
3	Concerto for Piano no 1 i / Johannes Brahms
4	Variations in B flat majo / Johannes Brahms
5	Variations in B flat majo / Johannes Brahms
6	Variations in B flat majo / Johannes Brahms
7	Variations in B flat majo / Johannes Brahms
8	Variations in B flat majo / Johannes Brahms
9	Variations in B flat majo / Johannes Brahms
10	Variations in B flat majo / Johannes Brahms
11	Variations in B flat majo / Johannes Brahms
12	Variations in B flat majo / Johannes Brahms
13	Variations in B flat majo / Johannes Brahms
Disc 2
1	Concerto for Piano no 2 i / Johannes Brahms
2	Concerto for Piano no 2 i / Johannes Brahms
3	Concerto for Piano no 2 i / Johannes Brahms
4	Concerto for Piano no 2 i / Johannes Brahms
5	Tragic Overture, Op. 81 / Johannes Brahms
6	Academic Festival Overtur / Johannes Brahms
Brahms: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2; Haydn Variations; Tragic Overture; Academic Festival Overture
1.	Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15 52:06
	Composed by Johannes Brahms
	Conducted by John Barbirolli
	Performed by Daniel Barenboim and New Philharmonia Orchestra of London
2.	Variations on a Theme of Haydn for orchestra in B flat major (St. Anthony Variations), Op. 56a 18:21
	Composed by Johannes Brahms
	Performed by Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
	Conducted by John Barbirolli
3.	Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 83 51:23
	Composed by Johannes Brahms
	Conducted by John Barbirolli
	Performed by Daniel Barenboim and New Philharmonia Orchestra of London
4.	Tragic Overture, in D minor, Op. 81 13:13
	Composed by Johannes Brahms
	Performed by Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
	Conducted by John Barbirolli
5.	Academic Festival Overture, for orchestra in C minor ("Akademische Festouvertüre"), Op. 80 11:29
	Composed by Johannes Brahms
	Performed by Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
	Conducted by John Barbirolli

All Music Guide

It is so astounding that the young Daniel Barenboim plays Brahms' piano concertos with almost incredible strength and nearly unbelievable virtuosity in these vintage 1967 EMI recordings that it might have been too much to ask for him to have played them with more than haphazard accuracy or cursory sensitivity. Yet though Barenboim roars over the "D minor Concerto"'s demonic abysses and the "B flat major Concerto"'s heroic heights like Hell's Angels on wheels, his youthful technique cannot quite nail enough of the notes in Brahms' score, nor can his youthful interpretations plumb the depths in Brahms' emotions. He dispatches difficult passages with power but not nearly enough precision. Listen and you can hear Barenboim smearing lines, dropping notes, or crashing chords left, right, and sideways. He can seduce slow passages with his lushly pedaled tone, but he leaves them emotionally unfulfilled by ignoring their phrasing and altering their dynamics. Conductor John Barbirolli pushes and pulls the New Philharmonia behind and beneath Barenboim, but he cannot always make the music move with his Barenboim's reckless tempo rubato. However, the inclusion of Barbirolli's contemporary recordings of Brahms' "Haydn Variations" and "Tragic" and "Academic Festival Overtures" with the Vienna Philharmonic makes the set entirely worthwhile. Barbirolli was always an ardent conductor, but coupled with the VPO's opulent sonorities, his performances have a passionate intensity and an emotional concentration unsurpassed by any other conductor since Wilhelm Furtwängler. For better of worse, EMI's recording is so rich, so full, and so wonderfully detailed that one can occasionally hear Barbirolli stamping, grunting, and groaning along with the music. James Leonard