Sony Classical has announced a new release from pianist Igor Levit – Brahms’s two Piano Concertos, recorded with conductor Christian Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic, along with the composer’s late solo works, Opp 116-119. The triple album will also include a performance of Brahms’s Waltz Op 39 No 15 for four hands, played by Levit and Thielemann. 

The pair first performed together in 2015, when Levit stepped in for an ill colleague to perform Mozart’s C major Concerto K 467 (with the Staatskapelle Dresden, in Munich), and immediately struck up a rapport. ‘We have such a similar way of thinking that it is not necessary to discuss many things,’ Thielemann said, with Levit adding: ‘When the piece begins, I simply have complete confidence in you. I know I can’t take a wrong turn. Having such unconditional trust is extraordinary.’

Of the solo works, Levit said: ‘Brahms’s music cannot leave you untouched. It’s just physically and emotionally not possible. Take Op 118 No 2, for example, it’s like an arrow shot straight into your heart. It’s simply the most beautiful, touching, and tender music imaginable.’

‘It’s taken me some years to get to the point of having the courage to play and record this music,’ said Levit, ‘and Christian Thielemann has been instrumental in getting me here. Unlike Beethoven’s music, where you go emotionally from peak to bottom almost continuously, here Brahms is often the steadiest of music, with very long breaths and a steady heartbeat. Now that I feel right placed with this music, you couldn’t find me happier than I am right now.’

Sony Classical will release the album on October 4, though the Andante from the Piano Concerto No 2 is available to hear from today, and you can listen to it below.