Amazon.co.uk Review
The piano concerto was no bravura lollipop to Brahms, who elevated concertos almost to the status of symphonies. But his two piano concertos are certainly not lacking in drama or virtuosity and they are given with edge-of-the-seat vitality here by two of music's giants--or three if you count the orchestra, the mighty Berlin Philharmonic, playing superbly. Perhaps the immediacy of the readings is heightened by the fact that both recordings are taken from live performances: the first concerto in the Vienna Musikverein in 1997 and the second in the Berlin Philharmonie in 1995. And if live performances conjures up thoughts of audiences making unsolicited contributions, don't worry. Either the Austrian and German audiences were particularly well behaved or the DG engineers have done miracles, because there is not so much as a single hand-clap, let alone any coughing and spluttering.
As two Italians, Abbado and Pollini can be expected to turn in spirited performances, which they certainly do. But these are also thoughtful readings that will long outlive the appeal of more showy interpretations. --Keith Clarke