When viewed through his studio recordings, Claudio Arrau’s monumental approach to the Brahms concertos seems better suited to the volatile D minor concerto than to the sunnier demeanor of No. 2 in B-flat. I’ve always found both of Arrau’s recordings of the Second concerto, for all the pianist’s undeniable artistry and technical finesse, a bit pulled about, discontinuous, and lacking in fire. As a rule, the great pianist lived more dangerously in front of an audience, and boy, is he on scintillating, inspired form in this live Brahms Second, recorded in June, 1976, at the Lausanne Festival. If anything, he sounds younger here than in his earlier studio traversals. Working backwards, hear how Arrau’s right hand octaves in the Finale’s coda take off and dance while the pianist maintains Brahms’ subtle cross-rhythmic effects. Arrau’s polyphonic sophistication pays wrenching, expressive dividends in the slow movement–enough to overlook the Orchestre Nationale de France’s sour-toned cello soloist. Conductor Igor Markevitch spurs his soloist to confrontational heights in the second movement, yet the thick solo part manages to sound winged rather than gnarly. And although the epic opening movement is subject to much rhetorical pointing, Arrau’s bedrock security and feeling for harmonic tension bind everything together, with trills, double notes, and scale cascades that fall effortlessly from Arrau’s sturdy hands. An insightful interview in French with the pianist follows, for which INA provides an English translation in the booklet. Too bad Markevitch didn’t have a better orchestra at his disposal. Arrau’s admirers won’t care. In sum, this is a valuable memento of one of the 20th century’s greatest pianists.
