Brahms: Paganini Variations, 2 Rhapsodies, Op. 79, 4 Ballades, Op. 10

1	Ballades (4) for piano, O
2	Ballades (4) for piano, O
3	Ballades (4) for piano, O
4	Ballades (4) for piano, O
5	Rhapsodies (2) for piano,
6	Rhapsodies (2) for piano,
7	Variations (28) for Piano
8	Variations (28) for Piano
9	Variations (28) on a Them
10	Variations (28) for Piano
11	Variations (28) on a Them
12	Variations (28) on a Them
13	Variations (28) on a Them
14	Variations (28) for Piano
15	Variations (28) on a Them
16	Variations (28) on a Them
17	Variations (28) on a Them
18	Variations (28) on a Them
19	Variations (28) on a Them
20	Variations (28) on a Them
21	Variations (28) on a Them
22	Variations (28) on a Them
23	Variations (28) on a Them
24	Variations (28) on a Them
25	Variations (28) on a Them
26	Variations (28) on a Them
27	Variations (28) for Piano
28	Variations (28) for Piano
29	Variations (28) for Piano
30	Variations (28) on a Them
31	Variations (28) on a Them
32	Variations (28) on a Them
33	Variations (28) for Piano
34	Variations (28) on a Them
35	Variations (28) on a Them
36	Variations (28) on a Them
Brahms: Paganini Variations, 2 Rhapsodies, Op. 79, 4 Ballades, Op. 10
1.	Ballades (4) for piano, Op. 10 26:45
	Composed by Johannes Brahms
	Performed by Nicholas Angelich
2.	Rhapsodies (2) for piano, Op. 79 18:14
	Composed by Johannes Brahms
	Performed by Nicholas Angelich
3.	Variations (28) on a Theme of Paganini, for piano, in A minor, Op. 35 25:29
	Composed by Johannes Brahms
	Performed by Nicholas Angelich

Barnes & Noble

Nicholas Angelich has built a name for himself as a Brahms specialist by sneaking in through the back door: On his two previous releases on Virgin Classics, he's been the pianist for chamber works by Brahms, accompanying Renaud Capuçon on the three violin sonatas and joining both Renaud and his cellist brother, Gautier Capuçon, for the piano trios. It's about time that Angelich stepped into the spotlight on his own, and this solo recital is every bit as gratifying as you'd expect after hearing his work on those earlier collaborative albums. Choosing three major compositions from different phases of Brahms's career, Angelich proves a master of the introspective poetry that pervades the early Ballades (1854), a quality integrated with more dramatic, heroic moods in the relatively late Rhapsodies (1879). The latter works, placed in the program's center, give a taste of the muscularity of Angelich's technique, which gets a real workout in the Variations on a Theme by Paganini (1862-63), one of Brahms's most virtuosic piano works. Based on the same tune that decades later would inspire the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Rachmaninoff -- another composer prized by Angelich -- these 28 variations show Brahms's most freely imaginative side as they flash past at the speed of thought. Never gratuitously showy, Angelich is always an intelligent, interesting, and technically impressive pianist; his work in chamber music is too rewarding to pass over, but chances are we'll be seeing him center stage much more often in the future. Scott Paulin

All Music Guide

Who is Nicholas Angelich and why does he play Brahms so well? Indeed, better than "so well," why does Angelich sound like a born Brahms player? Actually a born American trained in Paris who had made several recordings as an accompanist and a couple of discs of Liszt and Rachmaninov as a soloist, Angelich, with his mixture of deft dexterity and enormous intensity, of soulful expressivity and demonic virtuosity, sounds in Brahms like an idealized Wilhelm Kempff with a better technique crossed with an only slightly less terrifying Sviatoslav Richter. Angelich's "Ballades" are by turns heroic and tragic, lyric and dramatic, triumphant and, in the closing pages of the final Andante con moto, wonderfully consoling. His "Rhapsodies" are an intoxicating blend of emotional restlessness, interpretative recklessness, and rhythmic force. His "Paganini Variations" are brightly colored, brilliantly shaped, and fantastically imaginative, qualities only rarely present in Brahms' music, but fully present in these "Variations" and given a double-helping of power in Angelich's blazing performance. As captured in Virgin's immense but intimate sound, Angelich sounds like he could play any other work by Brahms, indeed, any other work by any composer, and sound like he was born to play it. James Leonard

Gramophone

[Angelich's] performances on this disc are of a wholly exceptional drama, sweep and impeccable craftsmanship.... You cannot but wonder at his range and overall mastery.... [The Paganini Variations is] among the finest recordings of Brahms's formidable masterpiece. Bryce Morrison