Hearing that Spivakovsky was the finest living interpreter of Brahms, legendary conductor Pierre Monteux presented him with a photographic portrait which he inscribed: "To my new friend and great artist, Jascha Spivakovsky, with my true admiration and great desire to play with him a Brahms concerto," heavily underlining the final two words. Their plans to collaborate were postponed due to the Second World War but finally came to fruition in April 1952, when they performed Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House. From a review in the San Francisco News: "Beauty of tone and variety of colour and dynamics, together with Spivakovsky's fine sculptural sense and appreciation of climactic values resulted in a beautiful projection of the musical score. Spivakovsky's performance bespoke intellectuality as well as musicality."