Although the German pianist Wilhelm Kempff had embarked on a celebrated concert and recording career by the late 1920s, his gifts would not be appreciated until after WWII and the dawn of the LP, recording for both Decca and Deutsche Gramophon, sticking to central Teutonic repertoire ranging from Bach and Beethoven (he recorded two celebrated cycles for DG) to Romantics like Schubert and Schumann. Kempff was a pianist who focused on the score at hand rather than presenting a more individualistic approach – as per many of his discographic contemporaries.

These two generously filled discs focus on Brahms’ solo works, which show the influence of Schumann. Here are performances which sing, yet are content let his melancholic and darker edge shine through. These are straightforward interpretations in a selection presenting the finest of Brahms’ compositions for the keyboard – ranging from the early evocative Ballades Op. 10, wherein the mature Brahmsian style is already firmly in place. We get a pair of performances of the Two Rhapsodies Op. 79 and some of the late Intermezzi with their Romantic air of heartfelt anguish. It might be noted here that the Decca recordings were met with some critical reservation upon their initial release in the early fifties, but both interpretations warrant a listen.

In the second volume there is additionally a rather boxy recording of the First Piano Concerto which similarly demonstrates Kempff’s no-nonsense approach to interpretation – even if the miking does favour the soloist at the expense of the orchestral accompaniment (given with the famed Dresden Staatskapelle and Konwitschny). Here are two generously filled discs, offered at bargain prices.