Brahms Piano Sonata No.3,Rhapsodies,Intermezzo,Capriccio by Murry Perahia

Perahia recorded this disc after his period of study with Horowitz. Perahia quotes Horowitz as saying, In order to be more than a virtuoso, you first must be a virtuoso. Suffice to say that on this recording, Perahia is more than a virtuoso. His mastery of this music is so consummate that I yearn for him to record the Brahms Piano Concertos. In the Sonata, Perahia has the gift of making each movement seem just as long as it should be. This is often a problem in the Brahms Sonatas, which are early works and can seem to ramble from time to time. Nevertheless, whether it's in the delicate expression of the slow movement or in the unbuttoned attitude of the Scherzo, Perahia characterizes the music fully without ever losing the sense of the Sonata's structure and pacing. And as for virtuosity, Perahia's command of balances and sonorities is just fantastic. The sound engineering in the Sonata, from UCLA's Royce Hall (where the L.A. Phil. often recorded), is full but a little dull. The sound is better in the four shorter works, recorded one year later in a hall in Hamburg. Perahia has the measure of these later ruminations by Brahms, never finding a mood that is too recondite to project. And his tone in these works is just marvelous and apropos. Here's hoping that Perahia returns to Brahms in the now later stages of Perahia's career.

 # Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5
Composed by Johannes Brahms
with Murray Perahia

# Rhapsody for piano in E flat major, Op. 119/4
Composed by Johannes Brahms
with Murray Perahia

# Capriccio for piano in B minor, Op. 76/2
Composed by Johannes Brahms
with Murray Perahia

# Intermezzo for piano in E flat minor, Op. 118/6
Composed by Johannes Brahms
with Murray Perahia

# Rhapsody for piano in B minor, Op. 79/1
Composed by Johannes Brahms
with Murray Perahia