NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Leif Ove Andsnes / Alan Gilbert

On Brahms, you can always count on one thing – at least not when it comes to the preludes of his works. 'I want to tell you that I wrote a small piano concerto with a very small scherzo,' the composer once announced about his No. 2 for piano and orchestra. In reality, it is a monster creation in four movements, a sort of 'symphony with piano.' However, you can certainly count on the compositional intricacy of Brahms: despite its massive scale and the heavy piano part, the concerto (with the slow movement not coincidentally featuring the cello taking over the melodic line) possesses an exceptionally lyrical character. Exactly the right choice for Leif Ove Andsnes, 'one of the most elegant pianists' of our time (Alan Gilbert), who opens his residency with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra with this milestone.