An imaginative coupling, both works catching their respective composers in a mood of inspired defiance, Brahms with a four-movement structure of symphonic proportions, Schumann with a single-movement that starts like a song then swings into an urgent, troubled Allegro (similar in tone to the main body of his Manfred Overture). Another similarity is their placing of soloist and orchestra on a more-or-less equal footing, so that if the performing relationship is at all unbalanced, the results will be lopsided. In this respect, Jando and Rahbari succeed in the Schumann but fall short in the Brahms. The main fault lies not with Alexander Rahbari (who seems a sympathetic Brahmsian), but with a provincial-sounding BRT Philharmonic.
The Concerto's opening is nicely paced (albeit via a slightly tremulous horn), Jando's first cadenza is forthright, but the ensuing tutti sounds both undernourished and unfocused. In the scherzo Jando bounds in with manly resolve, only to be greeted by half-hearted low strings, and the exultant tutti later on in the movement lacks drama and bite. The Andante is better, although a more rapt account of the dreamy passage before the solo cello's return would have helped. The finale wears a carefree countenance but nowhere approximates the finish and refinement of the best CD rivals (Gilels and Reiner, most notably). Throughout the performance, odd spots of awkward execution (try Jando at 7'01'' in the finale) and an occasional impression of dutiful routine suggest hasty preparation, or at least a reluctance to retake, but there are some nice exchanges in the quieter music and a refreshing lack of interpretative mannerism.
Jando and Rahbari seem far more in tune with Schumann. Here the BRT forces are noticeably more alert and Jando himself strikes an effective balance between the fanciful poetry of Schiff (Decca) and the grandeur of Serkin (still my own personal favourite, now on a budget-price Essential Classics CD). As to bargain alternatives in the Brahms, I couldn't in all honesty recommend this worthy but cavalier Jando/Rahbari version in preference to Gilels and Reiner, Gilels and Jochum Arrau and Haitink or Richter and Leinsdorf, not to mention Horowitz and Toscanini or Pollini and Abbado. But then I don't require digital sound. Those who do, however, are advised that although the present CD in no way misrepresents what is unquestionably among the greatest piano concertos ever written, neither does it capture its full flavour. Brendel and Abbado come far closer to that near-impossible ideal, but they're at full-price. Naxos's recording is pretty good in both works, although the brass tend to recede when the whole orchestra is in full cry and the piano (a rather hard-sounding instrument) is more closely balanced than we're used to nowadays.'