Brahms 2

Brahms’ sprawling Piano Concerto No.1 covers an enormous emotional range, with its stormy opening and tranquil slow movement. It demands a soloist with both poetic sensitivity and raw strength — such as the Auckland Philharmonia’s (and Giordano’s) great friend Alexander Gavrylyuk.

Symphony No.2 has been called ‘Brahms’ Pastoral Symphony’. After the titanic struggle of the First Symphony, when Brahms set to writing his second he found this uncomplicatedly happy piece flowing easily. It’s music of a relaxed summer in the high hills.