Pianist András Schiff is a relative newcomer to historically-oriented performance, which he had formerly disparaged, but he makes a splash early on with this Brahms concerto pair. Schiff plays an 1859 Blüthner instrument with a distinctively piercing, just slightly twangy tone. He conducts the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment from the keyboard, as early conductor and pianist Hans von Bülow is known to have done, and the orchestra numbers 50 players, the size Brahms himself stated he liked best. All of these things leave their traces on the performance, and ECM emphasizes the intimate dimensions with a close-up recording that may thrill some and be a bit too much for others. The biggest innovation, though, is simply Schiff's playing itself. He has gone back to the original manuscripts of these works and found details large (Brahms indicated a majestic, much-slower-than-usual tempo for the first movement of the Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15) and small. These are wonderfully detailed performances of these works from one of the great pianists of our time, at the top of his powers, and continuing to challenge himself.
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