Emil Gilels’ 1972 Brahms B-flat Concerto significantly differs from the pianist’s hard driving 1958 Chicago recording with Reiner. Tempos are slower, while the pianism stresses granitic power and little grace. Eugen Jochum clarifies wind and brass motives that other conductors gloss over, but some of the trickier soloist/ensemble entries are executed by the skin of their teeth. The pianist’s Klemperer-like tread through the Chopin B minor Sonata makes a fascinating foil to Martha Argerich’s impetuous, light-fingered account. Foul sonics fail to compensate for the rather notey, unyielding Chopin B-flat minor and Clementi Sonatas. The pianist’s daughter shares the bench for Schubert’s Fantasy–a respectful but rather inhibited reading far removed from the unpressured poetry of Perahia and Lupu’s sound world. The latter quality shines, though, in the Grieg and Schumann selections, as well as the ravishing Chopin F minor Etude. Altogether, an interesting but uneven collection.
