Olga Kern

Brahms, the Romantic, was not only fascinated by poetic inspirations, folk song and the great music of his predecessors, but also by Baroque keyboard works that weren’t even written for the piano. Brahms was also drawn to variation as an evolving form. All of these influences inform this superbly performed and recorded recital by the remarkable Olga Kern. Included are the early “Variations on a Hungarian Song,” the dramatic “Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel” and the towering “Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 35” (as also used by Rachmaninov). Kern plays with such assured grace and confidence that you are aware only of the music, not the pianist. On this higher plane of musicianship she is free to add occasional touches of well-chosen ornamentation. This is true music making.