03/01/ 2009 by Kevin Harley

‘If Brahms himself had been recorded playing his own music, this, I believe, is how it might have sounded: the young Czech pianist Libor Novacek gives these majestic pieces a dazzling sweep and splendour.

His formidable technique gives him the assurance he needs to let the music sing, while the almost-too-familiar Intermezzi come out in fresh colours, and the less-often-played Sonata is a revelation.’