Brahms: Piano Sonatas 1 & 2; Scherzo Op 4

Alexander Melnikov (1875 Bösendorfer piano) Harmonia Mundi HMC 902086****

For a composer who was so circumspect, who waited until he was over 40 to complete a symphony, and who destroyed so much of the music he wrote, Brahms must have had a big soft spot for his early piano sonatas. They are extraordinarily hot-headed creations that frequently seem to lose the run of themselves. The wonder is that the mature Brahms never chose to suppress them. Alexander Melnikov has both the fingers and the improvisatory fancy to deal with the first two of them, the composer’s Op 1 and Op 2. His chosen 1875 Bösendorfer piano is a lot less bulky in sound than a modern instrument, adding to the limber feeling of his approach. The tone itself is not always the most even or intrinsically appealing, but Melnikov makes it seem entirely apt to the music. See url.ie/55ay