I’ve listened to so many recordings of this piece to find someone who played it how I wanted to hear it. My search is over! Anna gets the depth of this piece and is careful to not rush through it like so many others do. So beautifully done, bravo!
Her interpretation of this piece absolutely crushes me. I’ve listened to so many performances of op.118 and felt like many players missed the point. This girl gets it. Her interpretation is both vulnerable and empathetic if that makes sense.
What a Brahms! The nuances and the shades that Anna weaves into her performance of this piece is nothing less than magical and nothing short of heavenly! Anna is a great, great Brahms interpreter!
She captures the bittersweet longing and Nostalgia without being maudlin or indulgent. Two fast and the timelessness is lost.( Gould) Too slow and it goes slack.(Pogorelich) Tempo is just right, especially the middle section and transition into the final phrase. Very well done.
When I listen to Anna's Brahms Intermezzo the picture of one of my idols pops in front of my eye and in my soul. The unbelievable Radu Lupu. Anna's reserved attitude, her intense emotional turmoil as evidenced by the tear drops that form in her eyes, and which she tries to hide, and her overall approach to music as being better than words as a means of communication remind me of Radu Lupu Please, I am not comparing performances here. I am noting and appreciating similarities in approaches in interpretation. Anna too seems to be touching a sacred object when she performs.... Anna too, seems to believe that music is a more accurate way oc communication than words.... If it is true that Brahms didn't compose anything that was not good, -- as my ophthalmologis and pianist cousin, Dr. Nazareth Darakjian told me once -- then I wish to add that Anna, with her adding of shades, nuances, and eventually full catharsis, makes this "good" even better...
I agree I do this Lupu's version is sublime. He seems t be in touch with the essence pf Brahms. Anna is not he way. Beautiful interpretation. One must never hire this piece.
I'm sorry Anna. I wrote a comment drunk. Radu Lupu was an incomparable interpreter of Brahms, but your playing is also beautiful. Don't be angry, I'm ashamed of my stupidity. You interpret Brahms fantastically….
I’ve seen a lot of comments comparing this to Radu Lupu’s version. My thoughts. This is slower than his - creates a greater sense of longing and almost weeping. Radu does a better job of the left hand voicing. He has slightly wider dynamic range, as his pianissimo is so tender. Their takes on the triplet sections are very different. And I suppose this is where it’s controversial. She breaks from the pace with more of a virtuosic take with tempo and power. Radu keeps the dynamism, voicing, and subtlety of the rest of the piece. As a whole, his is therefore more cohesive. But Anna’s version “pops” more in the triplet section. Whichever you prefer is purely subjective.
