Sunwook Kim’s second recording of Brahms’s First Piano Concerto in a little over three years, with the Staatskapelle Dresden and Myung-Whun Chung, was captured live in Seoul in September 2019. The coupling offers a glimpse into the world of late Brahms, with the six Op 118 Pieces.

As you might expect, the concerto is broadly similar in approach to Kim’s earlier recording, though the fact that this one is live accounts at times for greater freedom, not least in the piano’s first entry, over which he takes just a little more time after Chung’s nicely detailed opening. Kim’s focus is more on beauty of line and sound than on pulsating energy (he’s certainly less driven than Paul Lewis or Nelson Freire) and melodies are moulded with great sensitivity; even his accompanying figuration is nicely honed, if sometimes too audible, for he’s very forwardly placed in the recorded balance. There are plenty of felicitous moments, not least the duetting with flute then oboe from 7'50". There’s also an enviable ease to the more technically challenging passages in the work, and the drive towards the double bar is thrilling indeed.

Chung moulds the opening of the Adagio with real gravitas, and Kim takes his time shaping the piano’s first entry. But here I must admit to preferring the slightly more flowing tempo of the Hallé reading, in which Elder sets up a keener sense of expectation. There are no such quibbles about the finale, though, which is wonderfully impish; it’s a degree or two slower than his version with Elder and perhaps more playful as a result. The fugal writing (from 4'59") works particularly well here, while the cadenza has a degree more majesty before Kim lets rip. The appreciation of the audience, up to this point utterly silent, is completely understandable.

There’s lots to admire in Op 118 too. The opening number has a good swing to its rhythms, ringing without any hint of aggression, qualities he also brings to the Ballade (No 3), which contrasts beautifully with the singing inner section. He’s equally convincing in the more intimate numbers, capturing the gently confiding quality of No 2, even if he proves less yearning than in Volodos’s incomparable reading, not least in the duetting voices of the middle section. The flickering unease of No 4 works well, too, as does the passage where it builds up a head of steam, moving from chordal writing back to the agitation of the opening (from 1'53"), which sounds utterly innate. I had slight reservations about the Romance, which doesn’t have quite the carefree, almost improvised quality that’s needed as the music wakes from chordal slumber to the more playful Allegretto grazioso. Both Plowright and Volodos are more telling here, as they are at the outset of the final Intermezzo, full of portent and mystery. But Sunwook Kim is particularly impressive in the fiery middle section, giving