Brahms: Piano Concerto No.1 & Four Pieces for Piano Op. 119 Joseph Moog, Nicholas Milton & Deutsche Radio Philharmonie

• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897): Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15:
• 1 Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15: I. Maestoso 21:29
• 2 Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15: II. Adagio 14:21
• 3 Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15: III. Rondo. Allegro non troppo 11:52
• Four Pieces for Piano, Op. 119:
• 4 Four Pieces for Piano, Op. 119: I. Intermezzo. Adagio (B Minor) 03:34
• 5 Four Pieces for Piano, Op. 119: II. Intermezzo. Andantino un poco agitato (E Minor) 04:15
• 6 Four Pieces for Piano, Op. 119: III. Intermezzo: Grazioso e giocoso (C Major) 01:44
• 7 Four Pieces for Piano, Op. 119: IV. Rhapsody. Allegro risoluto (E-Flat Major) 04:49
• Total Runtime 01:02:04

Info for Brahms: Piano Concerto No.1 & Four Pieces for Piano Op. 119

After the success of his album of the 2nd Concerto of Brahms, Joseph Moog follows with a superb recording of the turbulent 1st Concerto, coupled with the late Piano Pieces op.119.

Gramophone said of the 2nd concerto, “Moog’s technical aplomb is abundantly apparent... the scherzo sounds almost inhumanly easier here.” Pizzicato said “Moog plays with imagination and individuality... peerless accompaniment and brilliant, virtuoso playing.”

Joseph Moog, piano
Deutsche Radio Philharmonie
Nicholas Milton, conductor

Joseph Moog
Born in 1987 in Ludwigshafen as the son of professional musicians, Joseph Moog captivates audiences with his mature stylistic authenticity, transcendental virtuosity and his bold, unique programme selections, which include his own compositions. Twice a winner at the International Classical Music Awards ICMA, in 2012 Joseph received the Award for Young Artist of the Year, followed in 2014 by the Award for Solo Instrumentalist of the Year awarded jointly with the celebrated pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja.

Reviewers have extolled this ‘Young Steinway Artist’ as "the most interesting interpreter of his generation" and are speaking of him as one of the "most remarkable phenomena in the current music scene". Radio Bremen have referred to him as a "treasure hunter with supernatural technical abilities" because, in addition to the customary piano repertoire, he uses his solo recitals to include highly virtuosic rarities from the ‘Golden Age’ of artists such as Godowsky, Rubinstein, Moszkowski and Friedman.

The 2014/15 season sees Joseph, once again, display his versatility with a highly varied programme of orchestral engagements featuring concertos by composers as diverse as Brahms, Liszt, Rachmaninov, Rubinstein, Saint-Saëns and Szymanowski, and working with a wide selection of European orchestras. Beginning his season with a return visit to the Tivoli Festival in Copenhagen, Joseph will go on to perform with, among others, the Helsinki Philharmonic, Stuttgart Philharmonic, Prague Philharmonia at the Munich Gasteig, Saarlandisches Staatsorchester, Poznan Philharmonic, Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux in Paris, and Dortmund Philharmonic at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam as part of a summer festival.

Joseph’s season on the recital platform is equally exciting as he makes his North American recital debut at the Gilmore International Recital Series in Kalamazoo and Vancouver Recital Society, in addition to debut performances at the Wigmore Hall in London, Lancaster International Concert Series, New Ross Piano Festival in Ireland, Fribourg International Concert Series, Istanbul Recitals and the Eesti Kontsert Piano Festival in Tallinn. Conceived with his usual panache, Joseph’s programme includes Beethoven’s C minor Sonata No 8 Pathétique, as well as works by Liszt, Rachmaninov and Fauré, and as his own exquisite arrangement of Rubinstein’s Fantasy on Hungarian melodies.

Looking further ahead, Joseph will open the prestigious Master Pianists Series at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in September 2015, and will make return visits to the Louvre Auditorium and Miami International Piano Festival. He will also continue his collaboration with the conductor Nicholas Milton and Sinfonia Varsovia with a planned tour of Eastern Europe.

Previous highlights have included performances at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Mariinsky Theater Auditorium in St. Petersburg, Louvre Auditorium in Paris, De Doelen in Rotterdam, Auditorium della Conciliazione in Rome, concert halls in Dortmund and Berlin, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Meistersingerhalle in Nuremberg and debuts at international festivals such as La Roque d`Antéron, Ruhr Klavierfestival and Miami International Piano Festival. Joseph is a frequent guest performer at renowned concert halls such as the Stuttgart Liederhalle, Alte Oper Frankfurt, and the Munich Gasteig. He has performed internationally in Zurich, Basel, Vienna, Salzburg, Prague, Sofia, Antwerp, Milan, Beijing, Rio de Janeiro and Tel Aviv. In the USA he made his debut in March 2011 with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in Denver, conducted by Gilbert Varga. Other renowned conductors with whom Joseph has had the privilege of working include Andrey Boreyko, Karl-Heinz Steffens, Juanjo Mena, Christoph Poppen, Pablo Gonzalez, Ari Rasilainen, Marcus Bosch, Toshiyuko Kamioka, John Axelrod, Fabrice Bollon, Theodor Guschlbauer, Petr Altrichter, Patrick Lange, Othmar Maga, Philippe Entremont, Markus Poschner and Michael Sanderling.

Moog has an extensive discography and has received numerous awards for his recordings, as well as outstanding critiques from international press. His eighth CD, ‘Tchaikovsky|Scharwenka’, was released in 2014 by Onyx Classics and includes Tchaikovsky’s Grande Sonate in G, Op 37 cunningly paired with Scharwenka’s Sonata No 2 in E Flat, Op 36. His next recording released later this year, will feature Grieg’s Concerto in A minor and Moszkoswki’s Concerto in E major.

Distinctions such as Musikpreis der Deutsche Konzertdirektion, 3 SuperSonic Awards, Advancement Award of the Rhineland Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein Festivals, the Pianist’s Choice, Prix Groupe de Rothschild (Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad) and the Rhine-Mosel Musikpreis document the professional path of this young pianist, who was named a Young Steinway Artist in 2009.

Joseph began playing the piano at the age of four, and was initially enrolled as a young student at the Academy of Music in Karlsruhe, after which he studied with Professor Bernd Glemser at the Academy of Music in Würzburg, and with Professor Arie Vardi at the Academy for Music, Theatre and Media in Hannover.

Booklet for Brahms: Piano Concerto No.1 & Four Pieces for Piano Op. 119