Brahms: Klavierstücke (6), Op. 118

"These are superb, intensely involved and involving performances, fit to stand with anything in the catalogue, both musically and pianistically." Piano

“There's much to admire in Groh's playing of these four sets...especially the beautifully judged palette of keyboard colours with which he shades these exquisite pieces. At times the quiet inwardness of the music escapes him - he's more at home, for instance, with the comparative extroversion of the Rhapsodie with which Op 119 ends, than with the delicately pearled intermezzo with which the set opens - and not everything in these pieces unfolds with the naturalness and expressive breadth that they ideally need. But Groh's playing has a musicality and honesty.” The Guardian, 20th June 2008 ***

“Sometimes in the more fiery pieces, such as the capriccios of Op 116, Groh seems limited in his colour range. Yet it is the poetic touch that matters here, and he clearly possesses that in spades, as the opening piece of Op 117, the beautifully gauged dying cadence of Op 116, No 6, the rich colours of Op 118, No 2, and the direct, unhurried simplicity of the first piece of Op 119 all testify.” Sunday Times, 15th June 2008 ***

“Trenchant, focused Brahms from a formidable player . . . . Nicholas Angelich is an American pianist, trained in Paris, whose performances on this disc are of a wholly exceptional drama, sweep and impeccable craftsmanship. Few young pianists have so little truck with flighty, salon-ish alternatives to seriousness, and his Brahms is sufficiently authoritative to make one long to hear him in the piano concertos. . . . . Angelich’s is nonetheless among the finest recordings of Brahms’s formidable masterpiece.” Gramophone

The Celebrated HMV Piano Solo Recordings. All Ballades, Scherzos, Waltzes, Rhapsodies, Intermezzos and other works for solo piano recorded by Wilhelm Backhaus between 1929-1936. Notes by Bryce Morrison Restoration: Maggi Payne & Graham Newton. AAD