Brahms: Works for Solo Piano Volume 1

A purple Brahms patch from this fulsome-toned pianist proves to be more than 77 minutes of warm, enveloping delight. Barry Douglas's approach is straightforward and eschews any temptation towards... — BBC Music Magazine, July 2012, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 26th Mar 2012
Catalogue No: CHAN10716
Label: Chandos
Series: Barry Douglas Brahms Solo Piano Music
Length: 77 minutes

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Excerpt, Brahms: Rhapsodies (2), Op. 79

Work length9:32

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Recorded: 10, 11 November 2011
Recording Venue: West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge

No. 1 in B minor

Track length9:32

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Excerpt, Brahms: Fantasies (7 piano pieces), Op. 116

Work length4:19

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Recorded: 10, 11 November 2011
Recording Venue: West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge

No. 4. Intermezzo in E major

Track length4:19

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Excerpt, Brahms: Klavierstücke (6), Op. 118

Work length6:09

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Recorded: 10, 11 November 2011
Recording Venue: West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge

No. 2. Intermezzo in A major

Track length6:09

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Excerpt, Brahms: Fantasies (7 piano pieces), Op. 116

Work length2:23

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Recorded: 10, 11 November 2011
Recording Venue: West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge

No. 1. Capriccio in D minor

Track length2:23

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Excerpt, Brahms: Intermezzi (3), Op. 117

Work length5:09

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Recorded: 10, 11 November 2011
Recording Venue: West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge

3 Intermezzos, Op. 117: No. 1 in E flat major

Track length5:09

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Excerpt, Brahms: Rhapsodies (2), Op. 79

Work length6:25

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Recorded: 10, 11 November 2011
Recording Venue: West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge

No. 2 in G minor

Track length6:25

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Excerpt, Brahms: Klavierstücke (6), Op. 118

Work length3:36

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Recorded: 10, 11 November 2011
Recording Venue: West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge

No. 5. Romanze in F major

Track length3:36

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Excerpt, Brahms: Fantasies (7 piano pieces), Op. 116

Work length2:22

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Recorded: 10, 11 November 2011
Recording Venue: West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge

No. 7. Capriccio in D minor

Track length2:22

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Excerpt, Brahms: Ballades (4), Op. 10

Work length7:16

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Recorded: 10, 11 November 2011
Recording Venue: West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge

4 Ballades, Op. 10: No. 4 in B major

Track length7:16

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Excerpt, Brahms: Fantasies (7 piano pieces), Op. 116

Work length3:26

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Recorded: 10, 11 November 2011
Recording Venue: West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge

No. 3. Capriccio in G minor

Track length3:26

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Brahms: Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24

Work length26:56

Album only

Recorded: 10, 11 November 2011
Recording Venue: West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge

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This is Volume 1 in a new series devoted to the Works for Solo Piano by Johannes Brahms, starting with a selection of highly personal collections of Capriccios, Intermezzi, Ballades, a Romance, and Rhapsodies.

The series also marks the first major project of the internationally acclaimed pianist Barry Douglas as an exclusive Chandos artist. Since winning the Gold Medal at the 1986 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow, Douglas has established a major international career, and his reputation as a pianist and conductor continues to grow.

Douglas was the soloist in the 2011 recording of Nino Rota’s Concerto soirée (CHAN10669), of which International Piano said: ‘For pianophiles, the headline message is undoubtedly “Barry’s back”. A complete Brahms series beckons, for which this definitely whets the appetite.’

Brahms wrote his set of four Ballades, Op. 10 (of which No. 4 is included on this disc) at the age of twenty-one, and at a time of much personal upheaval. His friend and patron Schumann had attempted suicide and been confined to a sanatorium near Bonn, and Brahms had been thrust into the role of protector and comforter of Schumann’s wife, Clara, while coming to terms with his own strong feelings for her. Reflective of the difficult situation, this work displays a deep-felt blend of the dramatic and the lyrical.

Perhaps the climax of Brahms’ activities as a composer came with the Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24. This was Brahms’s first major compositional statement following his 1860 ‘Manifesto’ against the ‘New German School’. The choice of a baroque theme, the strictness of the variations, the richness and scope of the piano technique, and the display of contrapuntal method in the Fugue, all combine to present Brahms in the role of ‘Preserver of Tradition’. Even Wagner saw the importance of the work, commenting grandly that it showed what could still be done with the old forms by someone who knew how to use them.

The predominant mood of the three Intermezzos on this disc is reflective and deeply introspective, which is in strong contrast to Brahms’s Capriccios, which are passionate, almost volatile, in character. The Romance, Op. 118 No. 5 completes the disc. This is a tuneful piece, which displays the lilt almost of a folksong.

Reviews

July 2012

A purple Brahms patch from this fulsome-toned pianist proves to be more than 77 minutes of warm, enveloping delight. Barry Douglas's approach is straightforward and eschews any temptation towards novelty for the sake of it; instead, he goes for the music's emotional jugular, enhanced by beautiful, rich tone and structural rigour...Douglas still allows his head to be led ultimately by his heart, which is what gives the disc its X-Factor.

June 2012

Douglas's beautiful, rounded tone and assiduously effected tempo relationships will satisfy listeners who like a less classically conceived, more pianistically oriented Handel Variations...his cycle will surely be fascinating to follow as it unfolds.

June 2012

The performances on this disc indicate that Barry Douglas is a Brahms interpreter of some stature...I loved the reading of Op 117 No 1. This bewitching lullaby is played with the utmost...The prospect of exploring Brahms’s solo piano music with Barry Douglas is an exciting one.

Brahms: Works for Solo Piano Volume 1

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