Brahms: Late Piano Works

Garrick Ohlsson (piano)

Brahms announced his retirement from composing on more than one occasion, but these are among the last solo pieces he wrote for piano. By contrast, the Op 4 scherzo is the work of an eighteen-year-old, and the earliest he approved for publication.

Brahms:
 7 Fantasies (Piano pieces), Op. 116
 3 Intermezzi, Op. 117
 6 Klavierstücke, Op. 118
 Scherzo in E flat minor, Op. 4

"Ohlsson leaves the best till last. The Op. 4 Scherzo, written when Brahms was just 18, has a driving excitement, a febrile quality that is thrilling. And, with his easy brand of virtuosity, he sounds right at home here…Ohlsson is very naturally recorded too."
Gramophone Magazine - January 2019

"The music does indeed appear to ‘pour’ from his fingers as though as part of an incandescent flow, alternating the impassioned eloquence of the three capriccios and reflective intensity of the four intermezzos with a sensitivity of phrase, harmonic timing and textural voicing that is nostalgically beguiling…One of the finest Brahms recitals in recent years."
BBC Music Magazine - March 2019 *****