Audition: Brahms Piano Concerto No 1, Op 10. Jakob Gimpel/Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Rudolf Kempe

1958 HMV

This recording was made at an inauspicious intersection of paths. Kempe, a tried and tested opera, recording & concert conductor of the German old school but tested by the Berlin Philharmonic seem somewhat sub par perhaps this is due in the wilderness following Furtwangler’s death and before Karajan’s arrival. And Gimpel a gifted pianist in a family of gifted musicians but not a household name.

Overall this is probably the most uncomfortable audition in this series so far and at every point you could hear the potential of the meeting of these creative forces.

The recording is close and somewhat overwhelming in the opening pages = dramatic but string heavy and woodwind backward.  Just before A1 things start to go awry in the orchestra.  Bizarrely the Viola line is horribly distorted by the mics - louder than it should be.  Kempe’s solution is to rush on through to the piano entry.  At this stage of the recording Gimpel is very closely miked and it’s is interesting to hear him in this opening passage nothing to complain about  until just before letter C when a combination of trills and chords sound messy.  The engineers or Kempe leave gaps where there should be solo contributions to often throughout this recording - a major flaw in such a symphonic work.  At his first Poco pui moderato Gimpel is tidy and clearly a master of the keyboard - but when the solo winds down the response from the bassoons is nasty.  Then the horns are inadequate all the way to C3 and Gimpel struggles to make a nice noise with the subsequent  trills.  this is all so frustrating because at the recapitulation (Letter E) both pianist and conductor and orchestra are in good shape.  It’s about now I started to detect an end of phrase problem with Gimpel which is to dog the piece.  He’s either rushing to catch up or just unable to articulate the challenge Brahms sets

As we hit letter G Kempe starts to accelerate and Gimpel gets more unsteady - this could be a result of insufficient rehearsal but it’s not helped by a rough and loud horn - it’s grim and yet the rest of the movement is pretty much faultless but not inspiring or gloriously captured.

Kempe is unsteady even at the opening of Brahms great threnody, the violins seem weak as does Gimpel in the opening pages. It doesn’t augur well when Gimpel sounds like he has no interest in phrasing and tone.  The movement moves to its height and conductor and pianist aren’t alert, forceful and worse of all not dark enough for the great passage when the pedal note weighs in.  It sad how neither pianist or conductor hit the mark - it’s a non-event and sacrilege for lovers of this work.  Gimpel’s also very closely miked so at the next pp we hear as hesitancy in his phrasing in the final passage of trills Gimpel sounds mechanical.  This reading of this movement kills any conceit of greatness for this recording.

The last movement starts in regulation fashion it’s only at letter B when Kempe and the wood winds can’t seem to see the wood for the trees,  And perhaps because of his earlier struggles Gimpal is very mechanical - later on in the movement this worsens to a rushing at the end of phrases.  There’s something of a drop in confidence for the orchestra, conductor and pianist.  Gimpel’s tone goes flat, his attack weak and the orchestra don’t sound as though they can be bothered.

The final passages sound like a run through and frankly they might not as well be bothered.  There’s none of Kempe’s ear for detail, verve and excitement.  Gimpel may have gone on to do better work.  This is - as they never say in Gramophone - a bow wow.