Search - Brahms, Matthies, Kohn :: Four Hand Piano Music 7

A wonderful series!

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 01/29/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The amazing thing is that a few seconds into each of these recordings one doesn't particularly miss the orchestral sound in these pieces. We're all familiar, of course, with the symphonies in their original form for full orchestra. And in a strange way this is precisely the opposite of the case in Brahms's time: he made these four-hand arrangements so that people could familiarize themselves with the music (in their own homes, with a four-hand partner) because orchestral concerts were otherwise the only way to hear the symphonies. That's a sobering thought in itself: can you imagine living in an era _without_ recordings?These performances, as those in the previous six issues in this series, are musical, lilting, concerned with the musical argument which, after all, is the main feature of a non-orchestral version of these pieces. One odd thing is that the piano's treble seems to be coming from the left speaker, as if we are sitting facing the rounded end of the piano. Otherwise, though, the sound is just fine and the performances sparkling."