Don’t look for charm, tenderness, or lyrical repose in Stefan Vladar’s Brahms. That’s not his way. You probably know that if you’ve heard his previous Brahms disc, issued by Sony. On one hand, Vladar brusquely dispatches pieces characterized by gnarly virtuoso writing and big sonorities, such as Op. 116’s outer movements, Op. 118 Nos. 1 and 3, and the last of the Op. 119 group. Pieces two and three of Op. 117 are more brisk and business-like than the norm, and at times are over-pedaled. Conversely, Vladar makes introspective selections such as Op. 116 No. 2, Op. 118 No. 2, and Op. 119 No. 1 sound relatively austere and bleak in relation to the perpetually singing tone and sophistication of voice leading that distinguishes Wilhelm Kempff’s Brahms. Moreover, the latter’s 1964 stereo DG recordings of these very same pieces benefit from warmer, more intimate engineering than what Harmonia Mundi provides Vladar, where the piano takes on an ugly monochrome quality in loud passages.
Among recent contenders, Harmonia Mundi’s own Jon Nakamatsu offers warmer, more flexible, and better-engineered accounts of Op. 116 and Op. 119, while Lars Vogt’s more probingly detailed Op. 117, Op. 118, and Op. 119 yield greater musical satisfaction. Vladar’s seriousness and integrity are never in doubt, yet in the final analysis, I find his Brahms interpretations easier to respect than to love.
