CD 1:
Johannes Brahms:
Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B major, Op. 83

CD 2:
Johannes Brahms:
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B major, Op. 83 (cont.)

Robert Schumann:
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54

CD 3:
Ludwig van Beethoven:
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37
Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58

Claudio Arrau was a virtuoso pianist with a large repertoire and a reputation for being one of the world’s hardest working artists, tirelessly traveling from continent to continent.

Arrau was 66 when he made this recording of Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major. After a powerful, incisive opening, Arrau piles up the tension with steely determination and ends the opening movement with triumphant trills. In the wild scherzo he kindles demonic fire; in the dreamy adagio he stokes sweet and magical sounds for his reverie.

The gigantic, demonic opening of Brahms' First Piano concerto is performed by Arrau with an impressive grandeur and precise phrasing, epically matched by SWR's Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra under Eliahu Inbal.

At the age of 77 Claudio Arrau performed Beethoven’s Piano Concertos Nos. 3 and 4 in a concert with the SWR Orchestra under Gary Bertini. With majestic calmness Arrau integrates everything into the overall symphonic structure, just like an architect, and highlights Beethoven’s detailed motivic work. Everything sounds fresh and with purpose.

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Recordings: 23.03.1972, live Stuttgart, Liederhalle (CD 1, Tr. 1-3); 02.04.1969, Baden-Baden, Hans-Rosbaud-Studio (CD 1, Tr. 4; CD 2, Tr. 1-3); 28.03.1972, Baden-Baden, Hans-Rosbaud-Studio (CD 2, Tr. 4-6); 09.07.1980, live Stuttgart, Liederhalle (CD 3).