 |
|
According to Eugen Jochum himself, he considered the cooperation with Emil Gilels in the recording of the two pianoconcertos of Brahms the highlight of his studio-recorded performances. He mentioned this in an interesting interview in Fono Forum (1986).
These recordings were released in 1972 by Deutsche Gramophone (see the label on the above photograph). Fortunately, these recordings have been more or less constantly in the catalogue of Deutsche Grammophone. This policy, under which several older important recordings are re-released made and continue to make available several important Eugen Jochum recordings. Nearly all DG recordings of Eugen Jochum are now available on CD (with one notable exception: Mozarts's "Cosi fan tutte" which was only shortly available around 1995).
The recordings of Brahms concertos themselves are a testimony to the ideal cooperation of two great musicians with an orchestra which is rightly counted among the very best of this world. The perfect recording balance and -techniques of DG in those years astonish even ears used to digital recordings. Where other performances are fading out with time and lose the initial glow, these recordings seem to be lasting and survive into the 21st Century. Seen from the perspective of 1972, these recordings received the same prize in the FonoForum of that year (see Literature about Eugen Jochum)
For this part: the DG recordings of Brahms' pianoconcertos confirm the importance of Eugen Jochum as Brahms conductor as well as accompagnying conductor.
 |