At first sight, the programme of this album could seem extravagant. Indeed, it assembles into one single volume all of Brahms’ intermezzi, the works that the composer held so dear. In doing so, Evgeni Koroliov isolates them from pieces which Brahms classifies under the same opus number and whose sequence is almost too well-known by music lovers. Frustrated by this fact and inviting us to gloss over it, Koroliov instead explores a more secretive side of Brahms: one of melancholy emotions and solitary twilight walks. And the result is overall successful: there is decidedly no monotony in this suite of slow pieces which Brahms wallowed in throughout his entire life. The almost nonchalant version which the Russian pianist portrays here seems almost to be like a series of improvisations for a few select friends. The seriousness of the expression helps us understand why Schönberg referred to Brahms as “progressive”, just as the “dissonance” of opus 117 to 119 heralds the music of the future, with its harmonic audacity so displeasing to the ears of a certain Clara Schumann, to whom some of the pieces are dedicated. © François Hudry/Qobuz