Thanks to Gerardo for mentioning:

>For me the greatest recording of Brahms first, is an old one in Melodiya
>label,where the pianist is Rudolf Kerer,a great Russian pianist ,who was in
>jail for years after the end of 2nd World war,and all those years,he was
>practicing in a dumb keybord made by himself in jail.

I just checked Amazon, but all they have of him is a Rachmaninoff and
Prokofieff concerto.  I'll keep my ears open for the Brahms.  There are
so many outstanding people who are only gradually being drawn out of
obscurity.  Ernst Levy is another example - his playing also has this
almost frightening emotional and intellectual intensity - at first it feels
as if you have been hit on the back of the head with a sledgehammer, but
once you get used to it it becomes clear how well all the parts fit, how
intelligently both the overall conception and the details have been worked
out.

Felix Delbruck
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