A brilliant forgotten Brahms gem

Talented Dejan Lazić's transformation of Brahms' Third Concerto into a piano piece is just one of the highlights on this disc

Composer: Brahms
Repertoire: Piano Concerto No.3 (arr.Lazić); Two Rhapsodies, Op.79, et al. 
Artists: Dejan Lazić (pf), Atlanta SO/Spano
Rating:  4/5
Genre: Orchestral
Label: Channel Classics CCS SA 29410

What’s this? Brahms’s Third Piano Concerto when everyone knows he only wrote two? Well, if you had never heard his much-loved Violin Concerto, you would never know that this ‘Third Concerto’ was not originally conceived for the piano. Not a note of the orchestral part has been changed, but the gifted young Croatian Dejan Lazić has transformed the solo violin part into a totally convincing and equally virtuosic work for pianists. The live world premiere performance, skilfully accompanied and recorded, is a winner on every level. After this, the three solo pieces come as something of an anti-climax.