Brazilian pianist Nelson Freire first recorded Brahms’s third Sonata in F minor, Op 5 in 1967 as he was about to depart Rio de Janeiro for further study in Vienna. He was then about the same age as the composer when the Sonata was written in 1853. Fifty years later at the age of 72 Freire has re-recorded the work that he refers to as a ‘lifelong companion’. Here is a rare performance. Deeply expressive, it has a natural ease in taking its own time. Everything on the album breathes of spaciousness and first-rate musicianship. The climax of the second movement, a song-like Andante prefaced in manuscript with a poem of loving embrace, is powerfully conveyed. This material was later further developed in the second slow movement of the composer’s Piano Quintet. The Scherzo: Allegro energico is an eccentric riot and by contrast, the Intermezzo with the subtitle Rückblick ‘a backward glance’, set as a funeral march is most delicately conveyed.
The rest of the recording comprises a collection of Intermezzi outlined in chronological order (Opp 76, 116, 117 and 118), the Ballade in G minor, and the Klavierstüke, Op 119. The Intermezzo in E major, Op 116 No 4 sings of a love of life and is performed, I imagine, as Brahms would have hoped so genuine is its message. The delightful Intermezzo in A major, Op 118 No 2 is also an excellent rendition. There is a charming bashfulness to the 90-second ‘encore’ of the recording, the Waltz No 15 in A flat major, Op 39.
A dazzlingly fine technique throughout, a perfectly voiced Steinway and superb Decca sound combine to compel a feeling that the stars aligned for this project, a labour of love. Here is true, free and expressive music making stemming from a life-long devotion to pianist composer, Johannes Brahms.
This is Freire’s first Brahms recording since the Gramophone Record of the Year concerto recordings with Riccardo Chailly a decade ago. I cannot but praise it.
Highly recommended.
5 stars out of 5
Recorded: 20-25 February, 2017 (Hamburg, Germany)
Released: 25 August, 2017
Decca 4832154
