BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major – Emil Gilels, piano/Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Fritz Reiner – JVC xrcd

by | Jun 3, 2005 | Classical Reissue Reviews | 0 comments

BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major – Emil Gilels,
piano/Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Fritz Reiner – JVC xrcd JM-XR24022,
44:56 ****:

Orchestra Hall in Chicago in l958 was the site of this exciting
iteration of the Brahms Second Piano Concerto. The 16-minute first
movement is a masterful little piano concerto all by itself, with
stirring heroic themes and fleet passagework at which Gilels was adept.
The piano sound is again larger than life but then the Chicago Symphony
under Reiner is a bit larger than life too, so they make a fine
combo!  I found that feeding this two-channel source thru Pro
Logic II resulted in a deeper and wider soundstage similar to the
discrete three-channel SACDs I’ve been reviewing.

 
– John Sunier 
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