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Barry Douglas - Johannes Brahms: Works for Solo Piano, Volume 4 (2015)

Posted By: Designol

Date: 24 Jul 2023 14:10:44

This is Volume 4 in Barry Douglas’s monumental project to record the complete works for solo piano by Johannes Brahms. Each volume has been released to critical acclaim, the first one, in 2012, being seen by BBC Music as ‘a triumph of Brahmsian thought, with playing that gets right to the heart of the composer’.

Once again, the album is presented as a stand-alone recital, prominently featuring the C major Sonata, which was Brahms’s first published work. The influence on Brahms of his early romantic predecessors Beethoven and Schubert is obvious here, not only in the virtuoso demands on the performer but also in the opening, which recalls both Beethoven’s ‘Hammerklavier’ Sonata, Op. 106 and Schubert’s ‘Wanderer’ Fantasy.

Two other works are much more than simple sets of variations. The Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann highlight the close relationship of Brahms with Schumann and his wife, Clara, to whom the work is dedicated ‘with intimate reverence’, and demonstrate Brahms’s skill at ‘thematic actualisation’, whereby latent potentialities of a theme are gradually revealed throughout the variation process. In the Variations on a Theme by Niccolò Paganini – the first of two books originally published in 1866 as ‘Keyboard Studies’ – each variation explores a distinct figural pattern or keyboard technique.

The recording also features short keyboard character pieces, abundant in the second half of the nineteenth century and especially in Brahms’s later years.

The Chandos series of albums devoted to the solo piano music of Brahms, performed by Irish pianist Barry Douglas, here reaches its fourth volume. Douglas' readings have been substantial and generally well received, and this group of pieces has the virtues of their predecessors in the series. Most notable is the structure of the program: Douglas plays Brahms' smaller pieces not in their original opus-number groupings but as intermezzi between larger works. This makes sense on several different levels, one of them being that some of the short works here are indeed titled Intermezzi. It's not at all clear that Brahms intended groups of short pieces to be plowed through from beginning to end. And, most important of all, the recital concept of Brahms' time was oriented toward mixtures of weightier and smaller pieces. As in the earlier Douglas releases in the series, the pianist handles the mixture well. The overall dimensions are intimate, and the fervent, technically dense quality of the early Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major, Op. 1, comes through very nicely. Of course every note is in place in the two big variation sets that round out the program, but here some may miss a bit of hall-filling excitement. On balance this is a strong addition to Douglas' series, although maybe not the one to start with for those just buying one. Among its virtues is the sound engineering from the West Road Concert Hall in Cambridge; it's ideally suited to both performer and concept.

Review by James Manheim, Allmusic.com

Volume 4 in Barry Douglas’s Brahms cycle-in-progress mixes and matches short pieces culled from various opus number groups with three large-scale works. Or, more accurately, two and a half, since we only get Book 1 of the Paganini Variations. Here Douglas’s measured tempi and sober, meticulous execution offer little in the way of virtuoso élan or dynamic momentum. Compare his listless ‘cross-string’ articulation in Var 3 to Claudio Arrau’s lighter, suppler touch (Pentatone, 6/76) and you’d swear that the 70-plus Arrau was actually the younger pianist. Sample Douglas’s heavy-gaited double notes in Vars 1 and 2 alongside the quicker, more incisive Jean-Yves Thibaudet (Decca, 10/95) and Evgeny Kissin (RCA, 6/96), or his ho-hum Var 13 octave glissandos next to Yuja Wang’s brilliantly gauged timing (DG, 7/10).

Conversely, Douglas comes fully alive throughout the C major Sonata. His proportioned rubatos in the first movement’s second theme and broodingly sustained Andante imbue the unwieldy textures with colour and variety. The Scherzo’s sharply pointed rhythms and the finale’s hair-trigger chordal leaps also reveal Douglas on top of his technical and musical game.

In Op 117 No 3 and Op 119 No 2 the pianist favours mass over line, although the three Op 76 selections and D minor ‘Edward’ Ballade achieve genuine chamber-like interaction from one register to another. Full-bodied pianism and tightly unified (yet never rigid) tempo relationships give the Op 9 Schumann Variations distinction; notice, for example, how Douglas’s long-lined sweep in the penultimate variation radically differs from Oleg Marshev’s protracted tempo and exploratory inner voices (Danacord, 12/05). Recommended, except for the Paganini Variations.

Review by Jed Distler, Gramophone

Johannes Brahms at Allmusic
Johannes Brahms at Wiki

Barry Douglas at Allmusic
Barry Douglas Website
Barry Douglas at Wiki

Tracklist:

Sonata No.1 in C major, Op.1:
01. I. Allegro (10:59)
02. II. Andante (05:25)
03. III. Scherzo: Allegro molto e con fuoco (05:43)
04. IV. Finale: Allegro con fuoco (06:30)

05. Intermezzo in C sharp minor, Op.117 No.3 (05:20)
06. Intermezzo in E minor, Op.119 No.2 (04:37)

Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op.9:
07. Theme (01:15)
08. Variation 1 (01:10)
09. Variation 2 (00:23)
10. Variation 3 (01:00)
11. Variation 4 (00:42)
12. Variation 5 (00:54)
13. Variation 6 (00:52)
14. Variation 7 (00:44)
15. Variation 8 (01:13)
16. Variation 9 (00:33)
17. Variation 10 (01:23)
18. Variation 11 (00:32)
19. Variation 12 (00:42)
20. Variation 13 (00:43)
21. Variation 14 (01:10)
22. Variation 15 (01:17)
23. Variation 16 (01:40)

24. Capriccio in F sharp minor, Op.76 No.1 (03:26)
25. Capriccio in B minor, Op.76 No.2 (03:21)

26. Intermezzo in A major, Op.76 No.6 (03:29)

27. Ballade, Op.10 No.1 'Edward' (04:43)

Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op.35, Book I:
28. Theme (00:27)
29. Variation 1 (00:31)
30. Variation 2 (00:33)
31. Variation 3 (00:31)
32. Variation 4 (00:54)
33. Variation 5 (00:42)
34. Variation 6 (00:28)
35. Variation 7 (00:28)
36. Variation 8 (00:32)
37. Variation 9 (01:25)
38. Variation 10 (01:12)
39. Variation 11 (01:21)
40. Variation 12 (00:57)
41. Variation 13 (00:35)
42. Variation 14 (01:20)
43. Presto, ma non troppo (00:58)

EAC log

Exact Audio Copy V1.1 from 23. June 2015

EAC extraction logfile from 13. October 2015, 20:51

Barry Douglas / Brahms - Works for Solo Piano, Vol.4

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DR log

foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2016-07-20 13:33:54

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Barry Douglas / Brahms - Works for Solo Piano, Vol.4
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR14 -3.03 dB -21.57 dB 11:00 01-Sonata No.1 in C major, Op.1 - I. Allegro
DR17 -4.53 dB -29.09 dB 5:26 02-Sonata No.1 in C major, Op.1 - II. Andante
DR13 -3.18 dB -20.86 dB 5:43 03-Sonata No.1 in C major, Op.1 - III. Scherzo: Allegro molto e con fuoco
DR13 -2.98 dB -20.75 dB 6:31 04-Sonata No.1 in C major, Op.1 - IV. Finale: Allegro con fuoco
DR13 -7.86 dB -26.96 dB 5:20 05-Intermezzo in C sharp minor, Op.117 No.3
DR13 -6.30 dB -24.82 dB 4:37 06-Intermezzo in E minor, Op.119 No.2
DR13 -12.66 dB -32.99 dB 1:15 07-Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op.9 - Theme
DR13 -15.10 dB -33.66 dB 1:10 08-Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op.9 - Variation 1
DR10 -11.77 dB -26.69 dB 0:24 09-Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op.9 - Variation 2
DR13 -12.62 dB -30.59 dB 1:00 10-Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op.9 - Variation 3
DR10 -8.37 dB -25.23 dB 0:42 11-Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op.9 - Variation 4
DR11 -7.89 dB -23.87 dB 0:54 12-Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op.9 - Variation 5
DR13 -4.01 dB -21.07 dB 0:53 13-Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op.9 - Variation 6
DR13 -16.42 dB -34.09 dB 0:44 14-Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op.9 - Variation 7
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DR11 -10.36 dB -26.43 dB 1:23 17-Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op.9 - Variation 10
DR12 -11.36 dB -28.15 dB 0:33 18-Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op.9 - Variation 11
DR12 -5.92 dB -25.43 dB 0:42 19-Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op.9 - Variation 12
DR10 -10.12 dB -26.37 dB 0:43 20-Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op.9 - Variation 13
DR13 -10.94 dB -30.42 dB 1:10 21-Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op.9 - Variation 14
DR11 -10.75 dB -27.01 dB 1:17 22-Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op.9 - Variation 15
DR15 -10.36 dB -33.32 dB 1:40 23-Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op.9 - Variation 16
DR12 -6.63 dB -25.12 dB 3:26 24-Capriccio in F sharp minor, Op.76 No.1
DR12 -8.44 dB -26.44 dB 3:21 25-Capriccio in B minor, Op.76 No.2
DR12 -10.59 dB -26.49 dB 3:29 26-Intermezzo in A major, Op.76 No.6
DR13 -2.21 dB -22.96 dB 4:44 27-Ballade, Op.10 No.1 'Edward'
DR11 -11.56 dB -25.96 dB 0:27 28-Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op.35, Book I - Theme
DR10 -6.33 dB -18.82 dB 0:32 29-Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op.35, Book I - Variation 1
DR10 -5.54 dB -20.91 dB 0:34 30-Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op.35, Book I - Variation 2
DR10 -13.57 dB -26.84 dB 0:32 31-Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op.35, Book I - Variation 3
DR10 -8.67 dB -20.94 dB 0:55 32-Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op.35, Book I - Variation 4
DR11 -11.79 dB -27.01 dB 0:43 33-Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op.35, Book I - Variation 5
DR10 -9.35 dB -23.72 dB 0:29 34-Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op.35, Book I - Variation 6
DR11 -4.55 dB -17.04 dB 0:29 35-Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op.35, Book I - Variation 7
DR10 -5.13 dB -17.34 dB 0:32 36-Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op.35, Book I - Variation 8
DR12 -10.84 dB -26.28 dB 1:26 37-Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op.35, Book I - Variation 9
DR11 -14.45 dB -30.26 dB 1:12 38-Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op.35, Book I - Variation 10
DR12 -17.78 dB -33.46 dB 1:22 39-Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op.35, Book I - Variation 11
DR11 -13.12 dB -29.55 dB 0:58 40-Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op.35, Book I - Variation 12
DR12 -7.93 dB -24.59 dB 0:36 41-Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op.35, Book I - Variation 13
DR12 -4.87 dB -18.47 dB 1:21 42-Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op.35, Book I - Variation 14
DR11 -1.49 dB -19.32 dB 0:58 43-Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op.35, Book I - Presto, ma non troppo
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Number of tracks: 43
Official DR value: DR12

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 335 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================

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