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Classical CD releases
Reviews by Andrew Clements
Guardian
Friday March 16, 2001
Brahms: Piano Sonata Op 5; Ballades Op 10
Lars Vogt
(EMI)
****
£14.99
There is a great deal to admire in the 30-year-old Vogt's playing of a composer who suits his temperament perfectly. He has the measure of the sweeping drama in the first movement of the F
minor Sonata, yet balances its tragic intensity with moments of genuine delicacy. It is clear from the start that this is much more than wham-bam Brahms, as his careful voicing of the slow movement and
punctilious articulation of the rhythms in the scherzo confirm. Each of the four Ballades has the same sense of proportion: Vogt is well aware of their programmatic origins, yet presents all the
incidental details just as deftly as he apprehends the larger issues. Very classy piano playing altogether.
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