Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2003-03-28 14:01
Reginald Kell recorded the Brahms sonatas twice. I learned the music from his second recording on a Decca LP with Joel Rosen, and I think they've been reissued on a Boston Skyline CD. There's a tremendous amount to learn from these recordings. His technique is immaculate, and his phrasing is wonderful. There's not a lazy note. Everything is going somewhere. Some people hate his vibrato and idiosyncratic phrasing. Nevertheless, there's pure gold in there. Take what you like and ignore the rest.
Kell made an earlier recording on a very rare Mercury LP with Mieczyslaw Horszowski, who was a much better pianist than Rosen. Also, Kell was more conservative with his personal phrasing touches, and so it's the better recording of the two.
Thea King, whom I ordinarily don't care for, has a special affinity for Brahms, and her recording of the sonatas on Hyperion is excellent.
My favorite of all, on a rare French RCA LP, is by Yona Ettlinger.
Of the current recordings, of the many good ones listed above, I like the Wright/Serkin version by a small margin.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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