Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
7 Fantasies Op 116 [22:47]
3 Intermezzi Op 117 [15:51]
6 Pieces Op 118 [22:36]
4 Pieces Op 119 [15:43]
Paul Lewis (piano)
rec. January 2018 and January 2019, Teldex Studio, Berlin, Germany
Reviewed as a digital download from a press preview
HARMONIA MUNDI HMM902365 [71:46]
I’ll begin with a mea culpa: I haven’t always been the biggest fan of Paul Lewis’ recordings. Yes of course they are unfailingly thoughtful and musical but, particularly in Beethoven, I wanted something else – the quirks of a Brendel or the hell for leather of a Schnabel, for example. My most recent encounter with Lewis was his disc of the Beethoven bagatelles which I found seriously and fatally lacking in humour. I was relieved to discover that late Brahms is a much better fit for Lewis’ rather sober musical personality. Certainly humour isn’t really really a big feature of these piano works apart from the odd piece like Op 119 No 3. At the risk of labouring a point, that particular piece I did find one of the least successful things on what it otherwise an admirable collection. Stephen Kovacevich, for one, finds more carefree playfulness – Brahms in Prater mood perhaps- than Lewis.
Whilst I’m getting the gripes out of the way, generally the faster pieces are less successful than the slower ones. I wanted more of a sense of the theatrical than Lewis’ sensible handling. A few more risks such as Volodos takes on his superb recording of a lot of this music. Try Volodos in Op 118 No 1 and it is just a much more Romantic experience, full of passionate feeling.
Volodos is more sensual too in the quieter music though I think there is a lot to be said for the English pianist’s plainer sound palette. Both pianists understand the reticent, interior character of this music and that very often less is more. The trio of Op 118 No 5 gains greatly from the simple and natural way Lewis allows the shifts in time signature to unfold rather underlining each shift rhetorically. This is music making that invites us in rather than grabs the throat.
This is not to imply that this new recording lacks characterisation. Aristocratic is the word that comes to mind listening to something like Op 119 No 1. Unhurried is another. Though typically there is nothing extreme either way, fast or slow, about any of the tempo choices on this recording. It is just the feeling that Lewis is prepared to give the music the time and space they need. These are not easy pieces to pull off and many big names have produced really rather tedious versions of them. I would go so far as to say that Volodos is the only recording of them that I can wholeheartedly recommend. At his best, Lewis is his equal even if, as I have already noted, I do have reservations about certain aspects of his interpretations.
Turning to more recent alternative recordings, in Op 116 No 2 a much admired debut by Elena Fischer-Dieskau seems rather stilted next to Lewis’ finer appreciation of the long line of Brahms’ melody. Neither Christophe Sirodeau on Melism from 2020 nor Yunus Kaya on Ars Produktion from 2021 get close to Lewis in Op 116 No 4. Again his tempo is more mobile but both of these less well known but well reviewed rivals seem to make heavy weather of Brahms’ complex textures. Lewis plays both these pieces exquisitely. Volodos sadly doesn’t give us the Op 116 set and the only modern recording I know to get close to the new Lewis in these pieces is Anna Gourari on Edel Classics from 2009, though I still preferred this latest release. Predictably Lewis has the best sound and sound can make or break a recording of the Brahms solo piano music more than that of most other piano composers.
As a footnote to these comparisons, I would draw attention to Eric Lu’s breathtaking performance of Op 117 No 1, like an oasis in an otherwise fairly indifferent recital of Chopin and Schumann from 2020 on Warner. Whether it is worth getting for one short piece is debatable but I can only hope Lu can be encouraged to give us more late Brahms.
And as a footnote to a footnote, don’t forget the old sorcerer Arthur Rubinstein in this repertoire. His performances tend to be scattered across numerous albums and reissues and the sound is pretty scratchy but they are worth seeking out as Rubinstein’s magic is set to full beam throughout.
As for modern complete sets, Paul Lewis has the field pretty too much to himself and can be easily recommended though, as I am sure has become obvious, no one serious about this repertoire can do without Volodos. The two taken together can be easily said to do Brahms proud.
David McDade
