This live Brahms B-flat concerto stands out for its swift tempos, headlong pacing, and forwardly balanced winds that allow the textural and symphonic elaboration of Brahms’ scoring to fully register (thanks to Paavo Berglund’s astute ear). In other words, don’t look for rich Viennese (Böhm/Backhaus) or Philadelphian (Ormandy/Serkin or Ormandy/Rubinstein) string schlag. François-Frederic Guy has no difficulty whatsoever with the solo part’s unforgiving clumps of chords, treacherous jumps, and endurance-testing trills. His fingerwork is analogous to a black-and-white etcher in the manner of Fleisher or Casadesus, rather than Gilels’ marble sculptor or Arrau wrestling with a fresco.
That said, the Harnoncourt/Buchbinder recording matches Guy/Berglund’s salient qualities, but within a much wider dynamic and expressive scope, helped by a stronger orchestra (compare the brass in the first movement, for example) and superior sonics. And to hear how a pianist should truly sing in the slow movement or effectively contrast the finale’s playful and driving qualities, I direct you to Ashkenazy (his earlier version with Mehta), Ax/Haitink, Biret/Wit, Fleisher/Szell, Katsaris/Inbal, Richter/Leinsdorf, Serkin/Szell, and the aforementioned Rubinstein/Ormandy. Moreover, most versions of this war-horse in the catalog have couplings. Overall, this is a very good Brahms B-flat, but there’s too much competition to offer an unqualified recommendation.
