Repertoire: The BEST Brahms Piano Concerto Sets 

Monteux!!!!! Yes!!! Wasn’t it Monteux who is quoted as saying, “I was a violinist. When I could no longer play violin, I became a violist. When I could no longer play viola, I became a conductor. And when I can no longer conduct, I shall become a music critic.” LOL!

I have loved both Brahms piano concertos equally well for as long as I remember. For No. 1 it had to be Szell with Fleischer, Serkin, and Curzon. For No. 2 Fleischer or Serkin also with Szell and Serkin with Ormandy. Since those days I have to add Freire with Chailly for both and also Kovacevich with Sawallisch for No. 1. I agree that Richter and Leinsdorf are terrific in No. 2, with the best horn solo ever. Nowadays I usually pull out Freire ahead of all others because of the performances and the SOUND!

Fleisher/Szell has always been my gold standard for the Brahms 1, but I also love Curzon/Szell and Freire/Chailly. The Richter/Leinsdorf is my favorite Brahms 2, and how amazing that the RCA album came paired with Richter's incredible Appassionata!

I really enjoy your videos. “HOWEVER”...I just wish I had time to listen to all the different versions of these great works. Looking forward to many more.

Just stumbled across you and your reviews - thank you for cheering up my day - it was pretty cheerful already but you can't have too much cheer. I love your way of addressing the music while making me want to find out why you enthuse about particular performances - and Brahms is my favourite composer. Thank You - be blessed!

Thank you! I also had the same ambivalent reaction to these concertos and for many years really didn't care about the 1st. Then I listened to Fleisher/Szell and it just blew my mind. What fabulous musicians they were! Thanks for all the suggestions, there are some surprises here. Cheers! :)

After I read about Freire's death yesterday, I got the Brahms piano concertos and the Encores CD. And I (ahem) concur with your verdict on the concertos. To use a Hurwitzism, the concerts must have been scorching!

Really insightful and perceptive talk, and thank you for mentioning my tipping you off to Peter Donohoe's terrific Brahms First Concerto. Another great one pianist/two conductors "cycle" well worth hunting down is with Martino Tirimo (Kurt Sanderling in No. 1, Yoel Levi in No. 2). Each work is wonderfully characterized on its own terms. I've recently revisited the singleton Brahms No. 2 with Vladimir Ashkenazy and Zubin Mehta conducting the LSO on Decca from 1967 (I believe), and it fuses symphonic discipline and virtuosic flair brilliantly...it's also very well engineered.

I've just watched this video, I'm brazilian and very proud of Nelson Freire. RIP

I've heard and agree with several of your recommendations - and I'm grateful to hear about all of them! One of (not the only - how can you have only one favorite??) my favorite First Concerto interpretations is Van Cliburn with Leinsdorf and the Boston SO. Such a clear recorded sound throughout (the winds! the basses!), and stormy and determined playing. But the second movement is incomparably great (exquisite obbligatos for the bassoons!) with a fantastic sensitivity and tenderness, yet such a noble and moving pedal point two-thirds through... and those trills near the end! Brahms generates simultaneous emotions with his genius as one listens to works like this....

My pick would be 1st Clifford Curzon (piano) , London Symphony Orchestra, George Szell (decca) 2nd Krystian Zimerman (piano), Wiener Philharmoniker,Leonard Bernstein (DG) I totally agree with your choice of the combined first choice.

I burst out laughing when you started listening the food adjectives! Another great review. Would be interested to hear your take on sets of the Chopin concertos as well. Thanks for all that you do. Your channel is an absolute gem!

Thank you so much for your recommendations. I'm just a novice to classical music but started to make it my number#1 genre about 5 years ago. About 90% of the classical music I listen to is slow-paced songs, Adagio, largo, and larghetto. Brahms is a genius. I have always liked the Fleisher Szell combo, but I was hesitant to listen to new recordings because most of the time I just get disappointed, but wow the consistency, passion, and respect by Riccardo and Freire are amazing and I may have to agree with you as my new number 1 spot. Concerto#2 Adagio is definitely in my top 5 Concerto along with Chopin, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, and Grieg oh and Ravel. This is not technical but the way I determine a good rendition is if I'm transported into a new world and before I know it the song is over and I want to listen to it again on repeat.

Thank you so much David! You are a great guide. I am addicted to your videos! I really like very much the recording of the Brahms B♭ major concerto with Nelson Freire / Richardo Chailly . It’s great, and absolutely stunning and as well as the performance by Grigory Sokolov / Jukka-Pekka Saraste with the wonderful Finish Radio Symphony Orchestra . Thank you David and take care !

The Adagio of the First Piano Concerto by Arrau/Giulini is probably unsurpassable - almost cosmic!

I agree that the Katchen set is magnificent (what do you think of his Beethoven cycle which I also hold in high regard?) My own preference for the concertos with different pianists is Rubinstein-Reiner/Chicago in #1 and Anda-Klemperer/Cologne or Anda/Fricsay/Berlin in #2. There are also live Arrau recordings with Kubelik (#1) and Markevitch (#2) that I find more stirring than his studio recordings. I would love to hear what your judgment on the latter happens to be.

Mycombination: Arrau's live recording with the Bavarian RSO and Kubelik (on Orfeo)- his best Brahms's first. Gilels\Reiner in the Second concerto.

My picks for a set: Concerto 1: Dino Ciani/Abbado - for me the passion, drive, and athleticism of BOTH of these artists in a live recording makes for a top-tier recording. The sweep, the virtuosity, the gorgeous tone on top of all of that! A real thrill. Concerto 2 : Gilels/Reiner - I like this better than the version with Jochum - the vigor of Reiner adds a necessary dimension to Gilels’ noble musicianship. The golden heart and golden sound of Gilels do not suffer at all for the thrust that the conductor demands. And Chicago brass!!

Thank you so much, Dave. As always, I love listening to your insights. I chose to listen to this episode because although I am not a big Brahms fan, I love concertos. Next to opera, I think the concerto is my favorite genre/form of music. So, I find it very interesting to put Brahms and the concerto together (with curious results: I love the last two movements of the violin concerto and the first movements of the piano concertos). I find it curious that Solti didn't record these piano concertos; I'm not even aware if he performed them at all. Anyway, thanks for opening up new ways to hear the Brahms piano concertos. Wesley.

I wondered throughout whether you were going to include a certain set ... until you picked it as your #1! You continue to show good taste and excellent knowledge. By the way, a sentimental favorite for me is Emanuel Ax, mostly because I saw Manny perform both concerti in Minneapolis (several years apart), and partly for the fact that a coupling on CD was made possible only by the merger of the Sony and BMG catalogues.

Great! Freire/Chailly is my favorite choice too.

I fell in love with Brahms back when I was 11 years old and it was the 1st piano concerto. I think the recording was of Cliburn. Not long after I heard one of the Rubinstein recordings and it made me forget Cliburn. In college I came across Fleisher/Szell which totally blew my mind and these have stayed with me. About the same time I heard the Richter/Leinsdorf, which I also loved. I listened to the Friere/Chailly last night, per your recommendation and all I can say is THANKS!!

Great commentary on the Brahms piano concerts! I like both of them. First I adored the 2nd one and nowadays maybe even the first more. I also like the Böhm- Backhaus set. Nice greetings from Vienna!

Nice review although I can’t follow your explanation about the love-hate relationship with both concertos. Thanks for the Freire recommendation! No mention of sets by Solomon, Zimmerman and Ashkenazy.

I love 1st with Rubinstein/Reiner and 2nd with Rubinstein/Krips. Very happy you liked so much Freire’s great set, a pianist I saw in concerts here in Brazil since I was at my teens. (unfortunately he broke his left elbow walking at Leblon beach last year. We all hope he’ll be ok soon)

Another great video. And timely too as I've been looking for Brahms PCs lately.

The second actually got me into Brahms, in spite of its annoying "skippy" finale. I'm with you on Pollini: cold. Heard him at a recital here in Chicago: cold. My fav is the Gilels/Jochum. Great chat!

Dave, Emil Gilels recorded in 1958 the 2nd Brahms Concerto with Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony. He recorded it again with Eugen Jochum and the Berlin Philharmonic in 1972. The interpretations are quite different and are both great. Was the difference because of the personalities of the different conductors, or did Gilels change his conception of the piece?

I have only recently come across your series and am loving it. Thank you so much. As for the Brahms, I do love the Gilels set you highlight. But in the 2nd I also think he was fractionally better on the earlier recording with Reiner and Chicago.

I've always like the lively, white hot and emotional Zimerman and Bernstein piano concerto 1 - much better than the more recent Zimerman and Rattle. The latter leaves me cold.

I've just listened to the Szell/Curzon on the DECCA "Legends" reissue (Piano Concerto No. 1). It was incredible experience. I have this CD for months but I didn't listened to it until now. I've never heard such rich orchestral textures on disc. The tempos is perfect, I loved the slow second movement also. It is a very romantic but in the same time modern, transparent and crisp preformance. Curzon is perfect partner here. I think in this case the situation is what Mr. Hurwitz mentioned in the Mozart Piano Concertos review: two great personality plays here.

Many thanks for this talk. I have the Gilels, BPO, Jochum, and the Friere, Gewandhausorchester, Chailly. Should I get the Katcgen and Fliescher?

Ashkenazy recorded #1 with Haitink and the Concertgebouworchestra, the sound is glorious and the playing fantastic. I also like Ashkenazy's remake of #2 with Haitink and the Vienna Philharmonic. On RU-vid there is a video of Bella Davidovich playing #1 that I like a lot. I heard her play it in concert and it was impressive!

I love the Serkin/Ormandy performance of the 2nd Concerto. The 3rd movement is so deeply moving.

There are so many great ones indeed. My very favorite No. 1 is absolutely the Curzon/Szell LSO. Not only is the recording superb in every way but Szell conducts the LSO as if they were the Vienna Phil. Hear the horns in the first movement Maestoso. No one bring and clarifies the texture as well as Szell. Curzon just plays divinely. The tremolos in the first movement are extraordinary!! Desert island No 1 and of course on No. 2 you have many but Gilels/Reiner CSO is the way I like this work. Followed by Richter/Leinsdorf perhaps and the unique Serkin versions as well.

I never fell in love with the first nearly as much as the second, and for the second I started with Ashkenazy/Mehta/LSO(?) which I still like a lot. But I also love Serkin/Szell/Cleveland.

Dave, as always I so enjoy your videos. The Leinsdorf/Richter Brahms 2nd has always been a favorite. But I wanted to tell you I got the Donohoe/Svetlanov Brahms 1st as a cut-out, who cares, from Amazon! OMG, why is this recording not in the active catalog? Wonderful, just wonderful - and it just got better and better as I listened. And the solo pieces are excellent! Thank you

I also enjoy the Graffman/Munch/BSO 1st on RCA/Sony, and the Anda/Fricsay/Berlin 2nd on DG. Alot!

The first recording of the Brahms piano concerto 1 I was ever exposed to was the Curzon/ Szell/ LSO from the early 1960s. The orchestra recording is just phenomenal and Szell is completely on fire with the LSO! I have listened to and owned several other pairings but my ears just won't let anything else topple it! The opening just brings tingles and near tears every time, with its expansive soundscape. Maybe, it's too dramatic but I really don't care! I will listen to the Freire/ Chailly and some of your other recommends, when I have time. Thanks

Wonderfull common sense review full of insight. Thx You asked for odd pairings so here is my two cents : PC1 Ohlsson/Tennstedt - volcanic conducting from the Big T. Tsetse-sleeper. 100 % forgotten about recording. PC2 Anda/ Karajan. Pure poetry.

In No 1 I really like Rubinstein with Reiner and Chicago - a very distinguished partnership between 2 very different personalities. Re Freire's No 2, I don't think I've ever heard such a rich, deep and natural piano sound in a recording.

No mention of Zimerman/Bernstein? Those have always been by far my preferred versions since they first appeared, particularly of No. 2. I have the Friere/Chailly set, but have never warmed to it for some reason. Different strokes.

once again, thanks for your insight. i learn a great deal from you. AND take your advice.

What do you think of the Brendel/Abbado/Berlin set? It's from the same era as Abbado's symphony cycle, roughly. It's the first one I bought and fell in love with as a teenager so I don’t have proper perspective on it.

My love for the first concerto is so great that I consider it my favorite from the standard repertoire of the genre. This fervent and tragic Brahms that falls into Schumann instead of Beethoven: a great work that stands against the progressive melancholy that started invading the master. The drama of the first movements orchestral introduction has never been equaled, and the entry of the piano is as overwhelming as those thrills that evoke death and suicide from the musician that considered him a genius. Regarding performances of this work I have 2 favorites: Zimerman / Rattle / Berlin Philarmonic (DG) and Kapell / Mitropoulos (New York Philarmonic) I have my problems with the second, especially with the third and last movements. Totally agree with that toy box music finish, and with the length of the adagio. Nevertheless, it is a titanic work that can destroy with its musicality a merely pianistic virtuoso approach (Horowitz / Toscanini). Regarding performances I don't really have a favorite, however I really enjoy, again, Kristian Zimerman, with Bernstein and the Wiener Philarmoniker. It might sound weird, but I find the collaboration Zimerman / Bernstein too perfect, with no symptoms or struggle. Totally agree with Katchen. His Decca Box set with the complete piano music is extraordinary. Nobody has played the late Intermezzi better.

Thanks for this great review. As a mixed pair did you ever consider Firkusny/Steinberg (EMI) for #1 and Bachauer/Skrowaczewski (Mercury) for #2 ? Or perhaps Lupu/De Waart (Decca) and Anda/Fricsay (DG) ?

Freire/Chailly is great for illumination of textures, though it’s slightly dull. My favorite is Kovacevich, cheating by combining his two sets: #1 with Sawallisch, and #2 with Colin Davis.

My combined pick would be 1st: Graffman/Munch (RCA) 2nd: Rubinstein/Dohnanyi (ICA)

Wow Dave, your journey with these two concertos was quite similar to my own. Except I always love them both now 😁

Thanks for another fine video, Dave. My choice:: Curzón for the first, Backhaus for the second, both on Decca.

Thanks for recommending the Freire/Chailly collaboration. I need to check it out. The only integrated set that I have is the old Barenboim/Barbirolli collaboration. It’s acceptable, but I need to familiarize myself with the two Serkin sets and the Fleisher set... and the Curzon set, too.

I have the Gilels/Jochum set. I like the idea of getting a second set. That is all; two sets is quite enough for me. So my second set should be not only excellent but as different as possible from Gilels/Jochum. Which set should that be?

Excellent talk as always. I couldn't agree more with the Freire/Chailly set. Now, my personal addition to your list would be Stephen Hough with Andrew Davis and the BBC Symphony (which I happen to prefer over his recent remake with Mark Wigglesworth). These performances are exciting as hell, especially in the first concerto. And finally, the individual performance that I think is worth getting a mention is Hamelin/Litton in the second concerto. It's fresh, it's lively, it's sharp, just wonderful stuff.

For the second Bruno Walter and Myra Hess , for the First Van Beinum and Curzon. For me 🙂

Thank you so much for your very informative, thoughtful and entertaining videos...Although I realize that your surveys cannot include many recordings, I just wanted to ask you how you feel about the Angelich/Jarvi Brahms set ...Again, many thanks!

What is your comment on Bernstein VPO and Zimerman? I have a feeling it's erratic and stretched out, yet the detail comes out. Am I right?

Wonderful choices and I agree with all of your findings! I always remember speaking with you for hours at HMV. Great to see you back at it! Best regards, ,jeff

How do people feel about Barenboim and Dudamel’s recording of this concerto?

Brahms 1: John Ogdon; Leopold Stokowski; American Symphony Orchestra. This is an amazing live recording! The climaxes are really exciting. Gary Graffman; Boston Symphony Orchestra; Charles Munch. Very urgent interpretation. Brahms 2: Artur Rubinstein; London Symphony Orchestra; Albert Coates. This is one of the earliest recordings of the work and perhaps the fastest performance ever. Compare that to post war recordings and you will be amazed! As a set: Rudolf Serkin; George Szell; The Cleveland Orchestra. Backhaus prewar recordings are also very good. His later ones are less flexible. Artur Schnabel is also very sparkling in the last mov of opus 15.

Wonderful survey. I am eager to hear the Friere/Chailly. Thinking of your remarks on Chailly and your review of the symphony sets, I appreciate that you listen to performances rather than names.

One really special thing about the Serkin/Ormandy 2nd is the playing of Elsa Hilger in the third movement cello solo.

Many thanks - all your comments agreed. Let me add two of my own likes - a 1st with Graffman/Boston/Munch and a 2nd with Solomon/Philharmonia/Dobrowen. Cheers and regards to Jed Distler from the guy once upon a time behind bearac_reissues private label

The top recommendation of Freire/Chailly is spot on Dave! My first foray into the Brahms Piano Concertos was with Stephen Hough and the BBCSO with Andrew Davis, still really enjoy these performances - love the way Hough hammers the downward octaves in the finale of #1. Hough recorded them again more recently with Wigglesworth conducting the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, but I actually prefer his earlier recording. In terms of a mixed #1 and #2, I'd have to go for Curzon/LSO/Szell and Hamelin/Dallas/Litton - love how Hamelin treats all the colours of the 2nd.

I have the Fleisher/Szell, Gilels/Jochum and Freire/Chailly recordings for both concertos, with Rubinstein/Reiner for #1 and Gilels/Reiner and Richter/Leinsdorf for #2. I love all of them. (I also have Ax/Levine for #1, but that was because it was bundled with Levine's recordings of the Brahms symphonies.)

My personal combo set: the very late Rubinstein/Mehta for the first, Fischer/Furtwängler for the second. Both admittedly require some indulgence of flaws and/or annoyances, but they share a courageous vulnerability I don't hear in many performances.

Before his death (RIP) Radu Lupu recorded a very thoughtful PC 1 with de Waart and the LPO. Not a full set, but still my personal favorite Brahms PC 1, period.

Among pianists currently before the public Planena Mangova turns in an incandescent Brahms First Concerto and the inexcusably underrated Nicholas Angelich a fabulous 2nd. Among older recorded versions, Cliburn/Reiner 2 was always glorious and Katchen/Monteux stunning too. 1958 Ashkenazy with Leopold Ludwig, a recent discovery is also surprisingly fiery and technically enormous. Thank you for your good humoured learning and stupendous depth of knowledge.

i love your reviews! You're batting a thousand with this one. I had no idea the Donohoe even existed!

I’m fond of Barenboim/Barbirolli for the 1st and Brendel/Abbado for the 2nd-but, of course, those are the ones I happen to own and grew up with.

So Moravec and the Czechs got a Penguin Rosette for that recording. Overall, what you're impression of the reliability of those Rosette awards? I remember from the pre-CD days, and pre- "guys on the internet telling you what's good", the Penguin Guides and their Rosettes were kind of the gold standard of recommendations...

Dear Dave, you are absolutely right, in Brahms's piano concertos the orchestral ascompaniment are practically diverse works, like in Peter Donohoe's version of 1rst, piano concerto with Svetlanov's fiery accompaniment! Excuse my english please!

1º Concerto: Grimaud/Gielen, 2º Concerto: Richter/Maazel

Jochum/Gilels and the Berliners and Chailly/Freire and Gewandhausorchester are two great choices.😊

Thak You so much for this very interesting video. I have collected recordings since 1966 but I have by far not so many as you. I have some comments to this video: Nelson Freire had a great recording career as a young pianist on American Columbia between 1967 and 1972 but for a long time he was nearly forgotten. He made some few recordings for Teldec , the Chopin scherzos and other Chopin, and then he began recording for Decca about 2000 . His Columbia recordings have been republished in a box on Sony Classic a few years ago. . I think Serkin had more virtuosity than Fleischer. There are some very hard to play trills in both concertos . Fleischer played arrangements which make them easier to play while Serkin really played as Brahms had Written. If I should have a box with two different pianists it would be Katchen in the first and Watts in the second. . My favorite set is Arrau/Haitink because of all the qualities in his playing you mentioned. I have ALL his recordings. Also Haitink is much more interesting in the concertos than in the symphonies.

I wonder what the result would have been like if Solti had teamed up with Katchen in the Brahms 1st, back in the conductor's early days. It might have had to be sold with an asbestos sleeve.,,

i'm not even gonna lie, i didn't like the first very much, but i've taken a very deep attraction for it now. the ending of the last movement, at the modulation to d major is amazing!!!

Wow, that was some survey. I must confess, although I used to love it, I no longer care for the First even though I heard Stephen Hough play it fabulously in concert about a decade ago. The Second is a bit more to my liking. The first recording of the latter I ever heard was the Richter/Leinsdorf - I still have the LP. I'm an ardent Szell fan, but when it comes to Serkin's Brahms, I prefer his collaborations with Ormandy. Serkin just seems more alive, and it puzzles me how Columbia was so willing to rerecord Serkin with Szell only a few years after he'd done these with Ormandy - both versions were in stereo. But my favorite Brahms 1 of all is Serkin's early mono recording with Reiner - they are on fire.

Actually on rehearing, the slow Harnoncourt !st movement kind of grows on you, like Klemperer's rubbing it in to Legge: 'did you get used to (the slow tempo) yet'?.....

My personal choice: 1. Serkin, Szell 2. Adrian Aeschbacher with Furtwängler. Very odd choice, I knooow Lol! Volcanic, convulsive and really exciting. Definitely worth hearing!

...for my money - the missing combined set will be: 1st - Curzon/LSO/Szell and 2nd - Gilels/CSO/Reiner :-) cheers from Poland

EUREKA!!!! Something we agree on!!! Serkin and Szell are my #! GO TO performances of the Brahms Concerti!! I prefer them to the ones he did with Ormandy

And one more West Virginia Symphony Orchestra story - this was almost 30 years ago. Emanuel Ax played the 2nd Concerto with us. The orchestra wasn't any great shakes in those days, but for the performance in Charleston we did OK, and Ax did his thing. THEN we gave a runout concert in Beckly. We played in a high school auditorium with an OK stage and a grand piano. But when we arrived an hour and a half before the concert was to begin, we discovered that the piano had lots of broken strings and even black keys that were missing. Ax tried to warm up on it, but declared it unplayable. So he asked if there was another piano in the building. It turned out that there was an upright piano in the band room. So they wheeled it in, and he sat down at it. He went plunk-plunk-plunk, declared it fine and dandy, and pulled out his own tools and went to work on tuning and voicing it. He never made a fuss and was all smiles. And the concert went OK - an experience I will never forget.

May I suggest the fantastic performance of the first concerto with Arrau and Raphael Kubelik recorded live with the Bavarian RSO on Orfeo. My benchmark for this piece.

Nelson Freire ❤️

I like the versions of Claudio Arrau , with Giulini, Haitink and Schmidt-Isserstedt .

The Donohoe/Svetlanov Cto 1 is on RU-vid, and yes - it is superb. Donohoe doesn't have Richter's electric virtuosity in the 2nd - but there is something here that is very rare - an almost perfect melding of the pianist and orchestra, plus every note sounding just 'right' - every note, intonation, dynamic......and of course the tempo is just purrr-fect.

I realize this recording came out AFTER this video, but I am curious what you think of the Schiff with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Given your comments about the important role of a conductor in these works, it’s interesting to see an example (with “period” instruments) without a separate conductor. The recordings seem marvelous to me, but I don’t profess deep knowledge of the performing histories of these pieces. I do love the Monteux and Chailly examples you named.

Hi Dave...thank you so much for this...your love and enthusiasm for these large works seems undimmed despite years of living with them. I can completely empathise with going with the first or second at any given time. Personally I have no favourites but was greatly intrigued by your mention of the Donohoe/Svetlanov recording...speaking of Donohoe, I have been a great fan of his Tchaikovsky 2nd piano concerto in its original version. Hope you can do a talk on the Tchaikovsky 2nd sometime, with your preference/ abhorrence of the Siloti version. Thank you so much for your life giving talks in these turbulent times. Brahms would have welcomed I am sure...God Bless

Great video. Brahms apparently exposes the weaknesses of the performers of his works. My fault as a listener is that I judge the entire 2nd concerto by the first 20 or 30 bars of the second movement. If the _attack_ isn't vigorous enough... _Fail_ So, do you think Nelson Freire shows enough passion for _Allegro appassionato?_

Just like you, Dave, I disliked the first, but loved the second. Now I love both.

I must be in the top-10 Ivan Moravec world fan ranking (does anyone knows if such a ranking exists ?), but I agree with you regarding his Brahms Concertos. As for nr. 1 AND Czech Philharmonic, I think Kun-Woo Paik´s recording (Eliahu Inbal conductor) is great (when Paik´s nails it (as his Fauré solo piano CD) he nails it !. For nr. 2, taking into account playing/orchestra/sound engineering, Gina Bachauwer / LSO / Skrowaczewski tops every other. Nr. 1 I also ADORE top choice for me: Arrau / BRSO / Kubelik (Audite).

rubinstein/mehta/IPO recording of brahms pc#1 is the most INTRIGUING rendition to me... dont know how to describe it. one most peculiar performance...

hey David, i agree, the serkin szell 1 was my first and no matter how many i hear afterwards, i still go back to serkin because its just about perfect. how about the brahms piano concerto 1 with bruno leonardo gelber, franz paul decker and the munich philharmonic from 1966 which won the grand prix du disque? talk about a ferocious opening and overall fine conducting along with the electrifying virtuosity, thunderous power, beautiful tone, and poetic sensibilities of bruno leonardo gelber. then a 2 with gilels and reiner where you get a more lean less expansive concept than with jochum but with no less chemistry and commitment and with an added touch of youthful fire to go along with the swifter tempos, golden tone, poetry, and power.

I just love Ashkenazy/Haitink/Vienna recording of Brahms piano concerto no 2. The second movement especially. Some recordings of the second movement are too slow for my taste. I also found the sound and recording fantastic. Lush is the word I would use. A real triumph by Ashkenazy and the Vienna Phil. (The second movement of the second concerto is an all-time favorite of mine). Also, I am half Viennese - the Jewish refugee kind.

I haven't seen all the comments but I am a big fan of Bruno-Leonardo Gelber's versions of both - and every classical loving friend Ive recommended him to has said, How come I'd not come across this before?

Montieux conducting Brahms' 2nd symphony is my fav of that work. I would love to hear him conducting the concertos.

The Rudolf Serkin/George Szell recording of Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 is magisterial.

My suggestion would be Kovacevich/Sawallisch for #1 and Anda/Fricsay in #2...

Among modern sets I would go with Helene Grimaud on DG. She has the full measure of Brahmsian nobility combined with beautiful depth of feeling and expressiveness. Dave, I know you did a survey of the Shostakovich symphonies. Any chance you could do any of the symphonies individually - say the incredible, fantasmagorical 4th, the deeply pessimistic 8th or the forbidding 10th?

Plz make a video only for Brahms piano concerto No.2 (Best Recordings)