Brahms Piano Concerto Nos. 1 and 2; The Top LPs

Well this pretty much sums it up after the dirth of sonic quality in the Beethoven Concertos:
"Szell makes a brief escape from the clutches of Columbia's engineers. It's all here. This is the penultimate rendition of this gripping concerto." from reviewer Paul on Amazon. But not so fast Paul, the Fleisher/Szell has some flesh on the bone on the Epic Gold Stereorama.  Proponents will point out this was recorded before Severence Hall's remodel and if you really want to get crazy you can have SAX (2526), but this is more for the completist SAX lovers than anything (only available in the challenged EMI Columbia second pressing). I have the Epic on the recording above and it still is sonically challenged. SAX crazed collectors may also want the formidable coupling of Arrau/Guilini on the Blue and Silver pressing (2387).  Cheapskates can wait on the likely formidable Classics for Pleasure Reissue (CFP 40028) which is currently being held hostage by at least six greedy British sellers on ebay for $25 or more for just an excellent copy (no sales of it in last three months). This pressing is highly recommended over the SAX seconds. Moving on we have Gilels/Jochum on DG which is a well respected performance, but sonically not in the money. Katchen/Monteux on Decca SXL 2172 will catch your wallet on fire, unfortunately the playing does not.

I have the Graffman Shaded Dog and just don't bother. Completely off the radar, is the Concert Classic SXLP 20010 with Gimpel/Kempe with the Berlin seems quite respectable in its digital version and Kempe is quite the Brahms conductor. The Classic reissue of Rubinstein in stereo for the first time on LSC-1831 is well worth snagging for a respected performance with top notch sound. Pressed by Bernie Grundmann with his all tube rig (no early Grundman Classic solid state pressing available) the sound is good and dynamic if a bit diffuse. It probably more than noses out the Speakers Corner reissue of the great Curzon/Szell SXL for sound. And if your are into high def digital than this recording is the winner. Overall the Curzon Decca SXL is a great one to have and given the prices of the NM Blueback pictured above, it might be worth springing for an excellent SXL Curzon, The Decca Jubilee (also London Jubilee, Enterprise etc.) is quite fine. This dutch pressing has improved noise floor and is quite sublime. Its kept me acquiring the budget Blueback to date. The winner here is easily Curzon/Szell. Sonically, perhaps not a true juggernaut, but add in the performance and we have a winner.
UPDATE 3/8/2015:
Columbia's reissue of the Epic Fleisher/Szell, Odyssey Y31273, circa 1972, really gets the job done. It is not an audiophile pressing with great noise floor, but it never fails to communicate an awesome performance. The Cleveland Orchestra is amazing (LSO/Curzon/Szell not even close). For me, the quest will be to find the best possible pressing of this performance. The Jubilee pressing is still nice with a great sound floor, but the Dutch pressing (much like the Mercury Golden Imports) lacks something in the dynamics department. Cleveland even on the Odyssey simply over powers and has an electricity that I don't think was ever there with Curzon/LSO.



-London 411579 Clifford CURZON piano BRAHMS Piano Cto #1 SZELL 1985
-BRAHMS PIANO CONCERTO No. 1 GIMPEL / KEMPE, BPO  . HMV SXLP 20010
-RCA VICS-1109 Stereo LP Brahms - Piano Concerto No 1, Gary Graffman, Munch
- RCA LIVING STEREO LSC 1831 BRAHMS Piano Concerto No.1 RUBINSTEIN Classic Records
- DECCA SXL 6023 Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 CURZON Szell LSO
- SAX 2526 Orig 1st BRAHMS piano concerto no. 1 LEON FLEISHER - SZELL Cleveland
-DG 2530 258 BRAHMS PIANO CTO #1 GILELS JOCHUM
-Decca SXL2172 - Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 1 - KATCHEN - MONTEUX

Well as we flip down the highest price sold on ebay it's a SAX spectacular, but we most wait for the SAX. Critically, the Gilels/Reiner on Living Stereo LSC-2219 appears to be the king and its not even close. Unfortunately despite this, Valin sends this recording straight to sonic hell in his RCA Living Stereo Bible summing up succinctly, "Recorded (badly) in 1958." No bass on the LSC which really kills the sound, so we are screwed once again. Two of the great interpreters of the Brahms 2nd Piano Concerto have perished; Richter-Hasser literarly collapsed in rehearsals, dying shortly thereafter, and Gina Bachauer died of a heart attack the afternoon she was to play it. Talk about screwed. Luckily, Richter-Haaser left behind an amazing performance on Columbia SAX 2328 with Karajan at the helm and I expect the Blue and Silver sound is outstanding. The Angel is not too bad and that makes this a great contender. Gina Bachauer with Stanislaw Skrowaczewski and the London Symphony Orchestra perform to 35mm Mercury Living Presence tape (4th movement). Arrau/Giulini enter the fray on SAX 2466 adding to the SAX count (and grab this on CFP 40034 rather than settle for the sloppy second pressing). Completists, don't forget to over pay for your rare Fleisher/Szell SAX (only a second pressing.)

The Epic sound is anything but and the noteworthy performance is not the equal of his Brahms 1. Not to be forgotten is Decca with Katchen and Backhaus accounting for the two most expensive stereo Brahms 2 LPs on popsike. Katchen's performance takes a back seat to Richter-Haaser, but the sonics of this SXL 2000 series seem formidable (digital). I doubt they make up for the performance gap and the above capture of the Haaser on Angel would indicate the SAX may be a sonic triumph. Hold everything, the Backhaus/Bohm is excellent despite not being golden age Decca. The Decca SXL may be slightly earlier though the time to ship overseas may account for the difference (Oct 67 versus Feb 68). The London can be had for under $10 or the nearly identical Decca for as much as $240 with the pretty FFSS Decca label (completists rejoice!) On the reissue front, I am currently in hot pursuit of a nice dutch pressed Decca Jubilee and will report back (the London cover looks quite familiar so I may have that in house for comparison.) Please buy these before the Decca to ensure you like the performance (the Decca is not worth 20 times the price.) Hasser has my vote, but with no reissues the price of admission is high. Backhaus I'd rate second in performance and the London and Jubilee look very promising for those on a budget. I'll report back. The Arrau on SAX is third for performance and you might just snag a Blue and Silver cheap enough to forget the CFP reissue. Katchen might have the best sound, but the performance is not to my taste. Try your luck with the London Blueback.

UPDATE 3/8/2015:
The Backhaus Jubilee arrived and it delivers again with great piano sound, but again the Dutch pressing has it drawbacks in the dynamics department. Overall, this is sonically more compelling than the above Brahms 1 Szell/Curzon Jubilee. I have the Giulini/Arrau on a German Odeon which never fails to sound like anti-sceptic solid state sound (which I why we generally ignore the German EMI pressings). The great suprise was the Gelber/Kempe/RPO EMI recording reissued on the American label Connoisseur Society CSQ 2088 (Q stands for Quadrophonic), originally released on Concert Classics SXDW 3030 with the first piano concerto. Gelber gives a very Van Cliburn-esque performance with all the youth and vigor that Backhaus lacks. The Sterling Sound pressing (intitials PR?) is quite effective with good midrange presence. This was recorded in 1973 and I'm not confident that the original Concert Classic double LP would best this. "In fact, this is a Brahms Second that can stand tall and proud in the forest of majestic redwoods, among which I count Emanuel Ax?s electrifying performance with Haitink and the Boston SO, Emil Gilels's classic recording with Reiner and the Chicago SO, and a recording almost exactly contemporaneous with Gelber's made by Cécile Ousset with Kurt Masur and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in 1974." (Jerry Dubins, http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=120094). At the moment I favor the Gelber simply due to its dynamic clout in performance and sound (distortion freaks be warned that it is recorded aggressively.) Both the Gelber and Jubilee Backhaus are sonic bargains.

-Columbia SAX2328 - Brahms - Piano Concerto No.2 - RICHTER-HASSER - KARAJAN
--SAX 2466 Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 / Arrau / Giulini B/S Philharmonia
-FLEISHER PLAY BRAHMS PIANO CONCERTO NO 2 CO SZELL EMI COLUMBIA SAX 2534 S/C
-Brahms: Second Piano Concerto Bachauer/LSO Mercury SR-90301
-DECCA SXL 6322 WBG ED2 *WILHELM BACKHAUS KARL BOHM* BRAHMS PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2
-SXL 2236 BRAHMS PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2 - KATCHEN / LSO / FERENCSIK
-RCA VICS-1026 1s1s Plum Nm BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 2 - GILELS / REINER CHICAGO
-SXL 2236 BRAHMS PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2 - KATCHEN / LSO / FERENCSIK
- DECCA SXL 6322 WBG 1st ED2 BRAHMS Piano Concerto No.2 BACKHAUS/BOHM