BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat Op. 83
Garrick Ohlsson, piano
BBC Symphony Orchestra / James Loughran, conductor
ROYAL ALBERT HALL, LONDON, 31 JULY 1978
CHOPIN: Scherzo No. 1 in B minor
CHOPIN: Polonaise in A flat
LISZT: Funerailles
Garrick Ohlsson, piano
12 APRIL 1974
Ohlsson won the 1970 Chopin International Piano Competition, just four years before the recital performance of Chopin and Liszt featured on this DVD. Ohlsson has also recorded the complete works of Chopin to global acclaim and is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading exponents of his works.
Jeremy Siepmann describes Ohlsson as demonstrating subtlety, brilliance and generosity of performance in the Brahms Concerto. Ohlsson has recorded on the Arabesque, RCA Victor
Red Seal, Angel/EMI, Bridge, BMG, Delos, Hanssler, Nonesuch, Telarc, and Virgin Classics labels and has been awarded a Grammy Award for his disc of Beethoven Sonatas. He also features in a Chopin documentary, ‘The Art of Chopin’, which was released on the EuroArts label in 2010.
‘Ohlsson embraces the visual dimension as intrinsically musical . and essential, not a peripheral ingredient in the complete artistic experience of musical performance.’ (Jeremy Siepmann)
Reviews of Ohlsson’s other Chopin recordings:
“This is an outstanding achievement, which any genuine Chopin lover and student of Romantic music should own … A landmark in the recording of Chopin’s music … Garrick Ohlsson and Hyperion deserve the greatest success in bringing this important undertaking to such a consistently impressive conclusion” (International Record Review on Hyperion’s Complete Works of Chopin with Garrick Ohlsson)
“Despite the plethora of great interpreters featured in the various Chopin anniversary boxes, there is much to be said for experiencing a single performer’s view of this composer. Most especially if the playing not only demonstrates complete technical command but also manages to bring freshness and insight to some extremely familiar music. Judging by the seven highly impressive and warmly recorded discs which Hyperion has extracted from its currently available 16-CD boxed set survey of Chopin’s entire output, American pianist Garrick Ohlsson has all these qualities in abundance.” (BBC Music Magazine)
“Ohlsson …stitched every tugging part together in this quasi-symphonic quilt. Transitions were never abrupt. If Liszt at his worst is a dizzying multitude of notes, he also shines when those cascades sound like more than scales. Ohlsson was never outmatched by the score’s difficulties, and even card-carrying Liszt haters had to admire such a mature and poetic performance. “ (Chicago Classical Review) ( ICA Classics )
