Brahms: Piano Concertos (Complete); Overtures (Complete); Haydn Variations

No one, I trust, will deny that Arrau has lived with, wrestled with, and in a truly terribly way 'known' the D minor Concerto for more years than most of us can consciously recall. where contemporary pianists have often tended to refine or domesticate the concerto, withdrawing it from the world of heroic endeavour, Arrau has always done the reverse. No pianist, apart possibly from Serkin in his several recordings, has communicated so formidably the work's scope: its seriousness and its anxious, tragic mood. Often Arrau makes free with the text. It is an uncomfortable reading to meet. But the vision is huge, the technique astonishing. Haitink is a worthy accompanist.   -- Richard Osborne, Gramophone [11/1987, reviewing the original CD release of the Arrau/Haitink Concerto no 1, Philips 420702]   In the Second Concerto [Arrau's] playing has a splendid combination of aristocratic finesse and warmth of feeling.   -- The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs & DVDs [2003/4 edition]     Works on This Recording   1. Concerto for Piano no 1 in D minor, Op. 15 by Johannes Brahms ■ Performer: Claudio Arrau (Piano) ■ Conductor: Bernard Haitink ■ Orchestra / Ensemble: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra ■ Period: Romantic ■ Written: 1854-1858; Germany ■ Date of Recording: 1969   2. Concerto for Piano no 2 in B flat major, Op. 83 by Johannes Brahms ■ Performer: Claudio Arrau (Piano) ■ Conductor: Bernard Haitink ■ Orchestra / Ensemble: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra ■ Period: Romantic ■ Written: 1878-1881; Austria   3. Academic Festival Overture in C minor, Op. 80 by Johannes Brahms ■ Conductor: Bernard Haitink ■ Orchestra / Ensemble: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra ■ Period: Romantic ■ Written: 1880; Austria   4. Tragic Overture, Op. 81 by Johannes Brahms ■ Conductor: Bernard Haitink ■ Orchestra / Ensemble: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra ■ Period: Romantic ■ Written: 1880; Austria   5. Variations in B flat major on a theme by Haydn, Op. 56a "St. Anthony" by Johannes Brahms ■ Conductor: Bernard Haitink ■ Orchestra / Ensemble: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra ■ Period: Romantic ■ Written: 1873; Austria