Brahms : Les deux concertos pour piano. Hough, Wigglesworth.

Piano International (Mar, 2014)
Hough’s account of the First Concerto is expansive and measured, finding the fire in the stormy opening Maestoso but also the delicacy and quietude in the central Adagio. The final rondo is a model of balance, completing a rather fine interpretation. Perhaps the final peroration is reined in a touch too much but I would not press the point. There have been fleeter versions, but Hough and Wigglesworth make their case for their choice of tempi compellingly.

There’s a broadness about the first movement of the Second, too, which in the event works very beautifully, especially in the exchanges between piano and horn and throughout brings out the romantic ardour. …