Fricsay conducts concertos by Beethoven and Brahms: Friendship is the connecting link between the two works here. Beethoven is thought to have written his Triple Concerto in 1803 – 04 for his favorite pupil, the Archduke Rudolph. Brahms composed his Double Concerto in 1887 as a peace offering, to heal a breach with his friend the violinist Joseph Joachim. It seems to have done the trick; and it was canny of Brahms, who conducted the first performance (Cologne, October 1887), to have the cellist of the Joachim Quartet, Robert Hausmann, sharing solo hon- ours – it would have been difficult for Brahms and Joachim to have a row with a third party present. I do not know how friendly the soloists on these two famous recordings were, but I recall what a strong “house style” manated from Deutsche Grammophon productions in the 1950s and early 1960s.