Piano Concerto No. 2; Schumann: Introduction and Allegro appasionato.

Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2; Schumann: Introduction and Allegro appasionato. Idil Biret, piano; Antoni Wit, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (Katowice). Naxos 8.554089.

If at first you don't succeed.... After the initial failure of this First Piano Concerto, Brahms waited almost twenty years before attempting another one. Today, they're both viewed as cornerstones of Romantic classical music, but I find them both rather ponderous old war-horses. Anyway, the Second begins in massive fashion, an echo of the First perhaps, with a long opening movement containing stretches of purely orchestral impressions. The second movement is a bit lighter and zippier, but not by much. The leisurely third movement Andante arrives just in time to save the piece from collapsing under its own weight, and the frolicsome finale saves the day by elevating the music to memorability.

Idil Biret's playing seems perfunctory in the opening sections but most able in the final movements. Compared to my two favored pianists in this work, Giles (DG) and Kovacevich (Philips), she appears slightly mechanical, never quite expressing either the grandness of the first movement or the poetry of the slow movement, but she does playfully dance about in the closing part. The orchestral accompaniment can range from burdensomely obscure to moodily transparent, depending, I suppose, on the mood of the engineers. I found the accompanying Schumann piano work closer to my liking, being more concisely treated as well as striking a better balance between orchestra and soloist.

At a low bargain price, this Brahms issue may seem a bargain, but if one remembers that the Gilels and Kovacevich recordings at mid price are only a tad more money, they can look like treasures.