Reddit reviews Brahms: The Piano Concertos (Bonus Track Version)

I have listened to Vladamir Askenazy's and Georg Solti's Beethoven: The Piano Concertos a lot. I mean like 200 times or more. I love the whole thing.

I also really enjoy Nelson Freire & Riccardo Chailly with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig playing Brahms Piano Concertos. I realize the hallmark for Brahms 1st Piano Concerto is the Clifford Curzon and George Szell recording but for some reason this recording is the one I go back to. Again I have listened to this Nelson Freire & Riccardo Chailly recording a ton of times.

Another album I have been listening to recently and obsessively is Paul Badura-Skoda's Schubert: The Complete Piano Sonatas Played on Period Instruments. I really love how Schubert's Sonatas sound on period fortepianos making it so that you have to play it faster since the strings cannot sustain the notes as long as modern pianos. Badura-Skoda also tried to tie fragment pieces into sonatas and extended some of the unfinished fragments like combining the F-sharp Minor D.571 fragment with D. 604 and two movements from D.570 to make "Sonata no. 8" as well as tacking on the C Major Allegretto D.346 onto the end of the C Major D.279 Sonata. While controversial to purists, I have quite enjoyed these additions especially C Major Allegretto D.346 which makes a unique use of the fagotto lever that gives a shocking power to the piece that I have never heard before. I will admit there are times where the playing is muddled which I think is attributed to both the artist and the instrument but for some reason I really like the sonatas like this plus I really love Schubert's piano music. This doesn't mean I love Kempff, Brendel or Richter's playing less but I really appreciate what this album does.