2 Rhapsodies, Op 79 (Brahms) - from CDA68334 - Hyperion Records

Reviews

‘[Ohlsson] has power and agility in reserve, which means that he can take fences in his stride that find others huffing and blowing … nor is Ohlsson afraid of plain speaking, so that the evident care he lavishes on the music never crosses the border into mannerism and the long lines of quasi-symphonic thought are never broken. The same goes for the Rhapsodies, which are as fully developed and as non-rhapsodic as movements from the piano sonatas that Brahms seemingly never composed after the age of 20. Not for a moment did I feel I was in anything but the safest of Brahmsian hands. All this is indeed mightily impressive, and I would welcome this disc into my library with open arms’ (Gramophone)

‘Garrick Ohlsson’s account [of Op 1] … is full and faithful. He has a fine feeling for the music’s scope and scale’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Garrick Ohlsson's Brahms recordings have impressed us here before, with their fiery passion, powerful virtuosity, eloquence and intensity—all of which he needs in the two Brahms sonatas on the new recording. But there's also Ohlsson's tenderness, his ability to look inwards in the Op 79 Rhapsodies written a quarter of a century later, and beautifully voiced in these memorable performances … potent and sometimes explosive performances … it's my Record of the Week’ (BBC Record Review)

‘Ohlsson has a wonderful feeling for Brahms’s very special sound-world, which runs from craggy monumental force to the soft-edged mystery that emerges here and there, especially in the beautiful middle section of the second of the two Rhapsodies … he catches the cloudy grandeur of the music, without sacrificing the clarity that makes the grandeur comprehensible’ (The Telegraph)» More

The 2 Rhapsodies, Op 79, were composed in 1879—more than a quarter-century after Brahms’s piano sonatas. The impulsive opening subject of the B minor first of the pair is followed by a tender pianissimo melody which is soon brushed aside by the forceful return of the initial theme. The new melody, so briefly glimpsed at this stage, forms the basis of the consolatory middle section in the major. It makes a further return, this time in the left hand, during the coda which follows the reprise of the first section.

The second rhapsody, in G minor, is actually a sonata movement in itself, complete with a repeat of its exposition. The exposition’s final stage is accompanied by a constantly rocking minor second, or semitone, in an inner voice, and the same unchanging rocking motion casts its influence over the entire second half of the central development section. It returns, too, in the final moments of the piece, where it gradually decelerates and fades away, before a full-blooded final cadence brings proceedings to an abrupt close.

Les 2 Rhapsodies, op.79, furent composées en 1879—plus d’un quart de siècle après les sonates pour piano de Brahms. Le sujet initial impulsif de la première rhapsodie en si mineur est suivi d’une tendre mélodie pianissimo vite écartée par le retour énergique du thème initial. La nouvelle mélodie, si brièvement entrevue à ce stade, constitue la base de la section centrale réconfortante en majeur. Elle fait un autre retour, cette fois à la main gauche, au cours de la coda qui suit la reprise de la première section.

La deuxième rhapsodie, en sol mineur, est en réalité un mouvement de sonate à elle seule, avec une reprise de son exposition. La phase finale de l’exposition est accompagnée dans une voix interne par une seconde mineure, ou demi-ton, en constant balancement, et le même balancement exerce son influence sur toute la seconde moitié du développement central. Il revient également dans les derniers moments du morceau, où il ralentit peu à peu et s’estompe, avant qu’une vigoureuse cadence finale nous conduise à une conclusion abrupte.

extrait des notes rédigées par Misha Donat © 2021
Français: Marie-Stella Pâris

Die 2 Rhapsodien, op. 79, entstanden 1879: über ein Vierteljahrhundert nach den Klaviersonaten. Auf das impulsive Eingangsthema der ersten Rhapsodie h-Moll folgt eine zarte Melodie im Pianissimo, die schon bald von der energischen Rückkehr des Anfangsthemas beiseitegeschoben wird. Die neue Melodie, die nun kurz aufleuchtet, bildet die Grundlage für den tröstlichen Mittelteil in Dur. Sie kehrt noch einmal in der linken Hand in der Coda wieder, die sich der Reprise des ersten Abschnitts anschließt.

Bei op. 79 Nr. 2 handelt es sich um einen Sonatensatz samt Wiederholung der Exposition. Der letzte Abschnitt der Exposition wird von einer konstant pendelnden kleinen Sekunde in einer Mittelstimme begleitet, und dieselbe unveränderliche Pendelbewegung prägt die gesamte zweite Hälfte der Durchführung. Sie kehrt zudem in den letzten Momenten des Stücks wieder, wo sie dann allmählich langsamer wird und verebbt, bevor eine heißblütige Schlusskadenz für ein abruptes Ende sorgt.

aus dem Begleittext von Misha Donat © 2021
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

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Recording details: November 2019
All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Andrew Keener
Engineered by David Hinitt
Release date: July 2021
Total duration: 15 minutes 37 seconds

Cover artwork: Evening in Tivoli (1880) by Hans Thoma (1839-1924)
Kunstmuseum Moritzburg Halle (Saale) / akg-images

2 Rhapsodies, Op 79

Garrick Ohlsson (piano)

Reviews

Introduction

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