The issue of Lazar Berman's 1963 recording of Liszt's Transcendental Études in the West created a sensation, and he sold out houses wherever he played. These successes led to his recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, beginning with the Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto with Herbert von Karajan. Berman said he liked to take a romantic approach to the classical repertoire and a classical approach to the romantic.

The highly-regarded recording of the two Liszt Piano Concertos came a year after that of the Tchaikovsky, this time from Vienna and with Carlo Maria Giulini, who in turn was making his Deutsche Grammophon debut with it.

These are the only three concertos Berman recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, and they now appear on a single album.

‘his tremendous virtuosity is always put at the service of the music ... Berman’s decorative passages are as delicate as you could imagine, never merely showy, while the strength of his playing is tremendous.... Giulini gets the Vienna Symphony Orchestra to play as if it were the Philharmonic itself.... deeply satisfying’ - (Liszt) Gramophone

‘this magnificent reading of the Tchaikovsky B flat minor certainly confirms that here is a positive personality of the first order ... Karajan conducts with an incandescent urgency to match the bravura of the pianist ... in every way this is a big, commanding performance ... - (Tchaikovsky) Gramophone