First, cards-on-table time. For me Brahms’s B flat Concerto (No 2) is by far the genre’s greatest of the Romantic period, with only Tchaikovsky’s G major (No 2) and Rachmaninov’s D minor (No 3) coming close. In fact, when as a youngster I first heard what Brahms mischievously described as his ‘tiny whisp of a scherzo’ (the concerto’s tumultuous second movement as magnificently played by Emil Gilels with Fritz Reiner conducting – RCA, 5/59), I assumed, without doubt, that what I was hearing was by Rachmaninov. Gilels in Chicago, like Simon Trpčeski here under Cristian Măcelaru, is masterly without sounding heavy-handed, especially around the first movement’s passionate solo protest at 7'09" (then 14'37"). Trpčeski is the scowling, weathered aristocrat, bearing his (or her) soul to impressive effect.

This is oratory Brahms and it takes a big player, such as Trpčeski certainly is, to do it justice. The movement’s opening horn/woodwind motif is perfectly played by the members of the WDR Sinfonieorchester and Trpčeski responds with a commanding cadenza, his shifts of tempo always well judged. Note the assertive tutti that follows, the superbly balanced bassoon-led woodwinds at 2'28", then the swinging pendulum at 2'56" (a typically Brahmsian gesture). In the scherzo Trpčeski proceeds towards the big central tutti, where Cristian Măcelaru holds the pace steady, then in the slow movement the pianist’s rapturous response to the solo cellist’s theme (more beautiful playing, I presume by Oren Shevlin) is extremely moving. The finale on the other hand is transparent and crisp.

It’s paradoxical that the four-movement Second Concerto is symphonic in scale whereas it was the three-movement First Concerto that Brahms considered developing into a four-movement symphony. Here under Măcelaru we’re offered a perfectly judged opening, powerful in tone, with brass backed by timps, railing strings, the sombre-sounding second subject illuminated from the inside. Only Szell (for Schnabel, Serkin, Curzon and Fleisher) is as quite as effective. Some of the best playing is at 12'57", where rippling passagework leads to the recapitulated opening. The Adagio second movement is limpid, while the finale boasts elegant trills, energetically driven, and at 3'51" gorgeous strings and horns sing out one of the work’s most memorable melodies, leading in due course to a playful fughetta at 5'06".

As with the B flat Concerto, this D minor has scale and personality, though I wouldn’t necessarily rate it above Fleisher (under Szell – 4/59) or Serkin (under Ormandy – 10/55, both from Sony Classical), to name merely two of the strongest contenders from yesteryear, just as versions of the B flat by Casadesus (with Carl Schuricht conducting – Scribendum, 12/17) and Backhaus (likewise conducted by Schuricht – Decca, 10/52) warrant close attention. These are well observed, fine-tuned performances, superbly recorded and well worth hearing.