Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
Sonata No. 2 in F sharp minor Op. 2 (1852)
Scherzo in E flat minor Op. 4 (1851)
Sonata No. 3 in F minor Op. 5 (1853)
Oleg Marshev (piano)
rec. 2021, Milan, Italy
DANACORD DACOCD900 [77]
Oleg Marshev is very much off the Russian production line of virtuoso pianists trained at the Moscow Conservatoire. His widely praised recordings on Danacord include the complete solo piano music of Prokofiev and the complete piano and orchestra works of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, as well as much Western-European music. Recently he has being offering Brahms. A much earlier release of Piano Sonata No. 1 (review) is now followed by this disc of Piano Sonatas Nos. 2 and 3.
It might seem obvious to describe this as Russian Brahms, but the opening assault of Lisztian double octaves in the Second Sonata announces a formidable technique and a big sound. The torrential passages of the development section are played with no quarter given. It is passionate and powerful, but not always poetic. This matters more in slow movements like the Andante con espressione of this sonata, where a slight pedestrian feel creeps in. This may partly be Brahms’s fault, for this is his earliest surviving sonata, written before Sonata No.1. The 6/8 scherzo goes better, especially its Siciliano trio section, played with a beguiling lilt. The finale makes a strong conclusion in Marshev’s hands.
The Op. 4 Scherzo, Brahms’s earliest original piece, is immaculately played, with plenty of the necessary rhythmic lift and drive. The mighty five-movement forty-minute Third Sonata has all the same qualities, from its arresting opening gesture, via the whimsy of its scherzo, through to the cumulative growth of the episodes of the finale. In the Andante espressivo, one of the loveliest of all Brahms’s slow movements, Marshev is a touch austere, as if this were the later bearded composer rather than the new kid on the musical block in his early twenties. Marshev makes a good case for his view, of course, but others have found a more passionate glow and sense of release at the climax.
Among recent comparisons, I have particularly valued Alexandre Kantorow’s 2020-2021 discs on BIS in fine suround sound: BIS-2380 for No. 2 (review) and BIS-2600 for No. 3. Kantorow has all the technique required, and he presents a Brahms who is a poet of the piano as much as a titan of the keyboard. But if you want both sonatas on one disc, this one has good sound, useful booklet notes and some very impressive playing.
Roy Westbrook
Previous review: John France
