Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 | Daniel Barenboim, Gustavo Dudamel & the Staatskapelle Berlin

A piano concerto which is like a great symphony - and with a star cast to boot! Brahms' romantic Piano Concerto No. 2 is played by Daniel Barenboim (piano) and the Staatskapelle Berlin under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel. The concert took place at the Musikfest Berlin in September 2014 in the Berlin Philharmonie.

(00:00) Coming on Stage
(00:30) I. Allegro non troppo
(19:15) II. Allegro appassionato
(29:12) III. Andante
(41:52) IV. Allegretto grazioso

To a friend, Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897) wrote that he had composed a “very small piano concerto”, but he was referring to his opulent Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major op. 83, which delighted audiences in 1881. At the premiere, the composer himself demonstrated his virtuoso skills on the piano. The reception of Brahms' first piano concerto 22 years earlier had been rather muted. Perhaps because Brahms compositional style was not yet so well established. For comparison you can find the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Johannes Brahms right here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNcQGsF2uIw&t=237s

When Brahms wrote his second piano concerto, he was already a well-to-do 44-year-old and a successful composer of chamber music and song (Lieder). He earned a good living as a freelance composer. His fame and reputation made audiences very eager to hear his new work.

Some critics considered it more of a symphony with solo piano, a fusion of classical symphonic form and virtuoso concerto. Johannes Brahms did not leave the development of the musical themes to the orchestra alone. The piano concerto begins with the horns playing the first Romantic motif, which is then taken up by the piano in order to develop it with the orchestra. The piano acts essentially as an orchestral instrument and is almost constantly present.

The German composer had not only written to his friend Elisabeth von Herzogenberg that he had written a very small piano concerto, but also that the concerto had “a very small, delicate scherzo”. This can be heard in the second movement, which is sandwiched into a total of four movements. This in itself was unusual, as instrumental concertos at the time were usually in three movements. Moreover, it is by no means a “delicate little scherzo”, but a powerful piano part that demands the highest level of technique and virtuosity.

Brahms is still known today for his Lieder compositions and for the folk elements in his works. The 3rd movement begins with delicate solo cello sounds playing a catchy melancholy melody. The Romantic composer took up this melody again in 1886 and used it in the song “Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer” (No. 2 in Fünf Lieder, Op. 105). In the final movement, a rondo, elements from Hungarian folklore appear, as in Brahms' Hungarian Dances.

Barenboim and Dudamel had already performed together at La Scala in Milan in 2012 at a concert celebrating Daniel Barenboim's 70th birthday. This successful collaboration was resumed two years later in Berlin. The program was particularly demanding for the pianist: Both Piano Concertos by Johannes Brahms were on the agenda. The concert garnered rave reviews praising Barenboim as a phenomenon due to his boundless energy, concentration and sheer joy of playing.

Text: Rita Kass

© 2014 Unitel

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