Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Started by BachQ, April 07, 2007, 03:23:22 AM

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BachQ

Quote from: PerfectWagnerite on January 07, 2008, 05:00:34 AM
Once in a while it is good to post one of his rants because they are so funny but you don't need to keep doing it.

Entertainment, baby.

Entertainment.

Harry

Quote from: Dm on January 08, 2008, 03:03:22 AM
Entertainment, baby.

Entertainment.


That sort of entertainment is not much appreciated.

greg

Quote from: Harry on January 04, 2008, 11:44:25 AM
???
you used has instead of had, implying his voice right now (being dead) is high...
i thought it was pretty funny  ;D

BachQ

#203
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: January 13, 2008

BRAHMS: CLARINET SONATAS

Jon Manasse, clarinetist; Jon Nakamatsu, pianist. Harmonia Mundi HMU 907430; CD.

IN an otherwise humdrum orchestral performance for American Ballet Theater a few years back, a clarinet solo wafted from the pit and riveted a listener's (er, viewer's) attention. The player, a glance at the program showed, was Jon Manasse, already valued for his other freelance work in New York.

But Mr. Manasse was known fondly for larger solo stints as well, and here he takes center stage in two peaks of the clarinet literature, Brahms's Op. 120 Sonatas, in F minor and in E flat. Again the results are compelling.

Brahms wrote these works, along with a trio and a quintet, late in life under the influence of the young clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld. Warm, ripe and prevailingly mellow, they all testify eloquently to Mühlfeld's lyrical gifts as well as to his virtuosity, and they have continued to challenge the depth and versatility of clarinetists ever since. Mr. Manasse meets the call with deft technique, exquisite sensitivity and smooth, flowing tone.

In any Brahms work with piano the term accompaniment is of limited usefulness, so inventive and assertive is the composer's writing for the instrument. Especially in the scherzolike Appassionato movement of the E flat Sonata but in other movements as well, the clarinet and the piano are thoroughly, sensuously intertwined in a subtly shifting balance.

So Jon Nakamatsu's contribution is just as important as Mr. Manasse's, and their partnership is complete. In the middle of that Appassionato, the pianist takes the lead with something like one of those ineffable late Brahms piano pieces, and Mr. Nakamatsu's playing is as meltingly beautiful as Mr. Manasse's. Elsewhere Mr. Nakamatsu's pianism is playful, sturdy or pushy, as appropriate.

The recorded sound is also crucial to the balance of the piano and clarinet, and Harmonia Mundi's production is impeccable, capturing such disparate instruments in full color and a lifelike perspective. JAMES R. OESTREICH







Mark G. Simon

Manasse is a superb musician, one of the best in the business.

The piano parts in the op. 120 sonatas are fiercely difficult. Meas. 182-186 in the first movement of no.1, and meas. 15-17 in the first movement of no. 2 are truly terrifying for the pianist. All of a sudden it's as if he expects the sound of a full orchestra to materialize.

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: Dm on January 13, 2008, 03:52:29 AM
By THE NEW YORK TIMES

BRAHMS: CLARINET SONATAS

Jon Manasse, clarinetist; Jon Nakamatsu, pianist. Harmonia Mundi HMU 907430; CD.

JPC has clips. Sounds gorgeous...and I love the cover (reminds me of someone  ;) )

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/hnum/9147696?rk=classic&rsk=hitlist

I've been making due with Berkes/Jandó on Naxos. I think I'll put this new recording on my wishlist.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Bonehelm

Has anyone heard the 1962 Szell/Curzon/LPO PC#1 recording? It's fiery and intense  :o

samuel

Quote from: 復活交響曲 on January 13, 2008, 11:29:38 AM
Has anyone heard the 1962 Szell/Curzon/LPO PC#1 recording? It's fiery and intense  :o

ive heard about 10 different versions of this piece including that one but my favorite is fleisher/szell.


bhodges

Quote from: Dm on January 15, 2008, 08:36:14 AM

Andsnes to perform Brahms in NYC


"Backed by the renowned New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Riccardo Muti, Norway's brightest star in classical music, pianist Leif Ove Andsnes will play four concerts performing Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 from January 17 to 19."



As of today, I'm planning to hear this.  I like both Andsnes and Muti, and the program also includes Liszt's From the Cradle to the Grave (unknown to me) and Scriabin's Poem of Ecstasy ( 0:)).

--Bruce

BachQ

Quote from: bhodges on January 15, 2008, 08:46:50 AM
As of today, I'm planning to hear this.  I like both Andsnes and Muti, and the program also includes Liszt's From the Cradle to the Grave (unknown to me) and Scriabin's Poem of Ecstasy ( 0:)).

--Bruce

If you do attend, Bruce, please report back ......


MishaK

Hurwitz's slobbering notwithstanding, I am interested in that cycle. Not sure if I want it on ArkivCD though. Might hold out until I find a proper used original. I have the 1st from Levine's CSO cycle, which is very intense and dramatic, but pays little attention to color or detail. You could say it's more Solti-esque than Solti's own cycle (which is superb, BTW, if maybe too middle of the road). So it is far from the superlative Hurwitz makes it out to be, but it is not uninteresting. I'd be curious how Levine matured as a Brahms interpreter, besides having the color palette of the VPO at his disposal.

(poco) Sforzando

Quote from: O Mensch on January 17, 2008, 08:25:29 AM
Hurwitz's slobbering notwithstanding, I am interested in that cycle. Not sure if I want it on ArkivCD though. Might hold out until I find a proper used original. I have the 1st from Levine's CSO cycle, which is very intense and dramatic, but pays little attention to color or detail. You could say it's more Solti-esque than Solti's own cycle (which is superb, BTW, if maybe too middle of the road). So it is far from the superlative Hurwitz makes it out to be, but it is not uninteresting. I'd be curious how Levine matured as a Brahms interpreter, besides having the color palette of the VPO at his disposal.

Hurwitz also writes in that review, "James Levine is unquestionably a great Brahms conductor (or at least he was, prior to his current 'go slow' period)." By implication these Vienna recordings were not made in the very recent past. I say this because I found his Brahms 3rd with the Met Orchestra last year exceptionally turgid and slow, particularly in the middle movements.
"I don't know what sforzando means, though it clearly means something."

MishaK

Quote from: Sforzando on January 18, 2008, 11:19:34 AM
Hurwitz also writes in that review, "James Levine is unquestionably a great Brahms conductor (or at least he was, prior to his current 'go slow' period)." By implication these Vienna recordings were not made in the very recent past. I say this because I found his Brahms 3rd with the Met Orchestra last year exceptionally turgid and slow, particularly in the middle movements.

What people like Hurwitz don't understand is: tempo isn't everything and tempo isn't an absolute. It's of course easy for people who can't read scores but can operate a metronome to complain about tempo. But that has nothing to do with the validity and coherence of an interpretation. One can pack more intensity into a slower performance than a fast one if one know what one is doing. I'm just curious what Levine did with the VPO in this repertoire. IIRC, the recordings are from the late 80s or early 90s.

Don

Quote from: O Mensch on January 17, 2008, 08:25:29 AM
Hurwitz's slobbering notwithstanding, I am interested in that cycle. Not sure if I want it on ArkivCD though.

Why the hesitation with ArkivCD?

(poco) Sforzando

Quote from: O Mensch on January 18, 2008, 12:10:23 PM
What people like Hurwitz don't understand is: tempo isn't everything and tempo isn't an absolute. It's of course easy for people who can't read scores but can operate a metronome to complain about tempo. But that has nothing to do with the validity and coherence of an interpretation. One can pack more intensity into a slower performance than a fast one if one know what one is doing. I'm just curious what Levine did with the VPO in this repertoire. IIRC, the recordings are from the late 80s or early 90s.

I can read scores quite well and I understand perfectly well that tempo isn't an absolute (certainly not in the case of Brahms, who did not provide metronome marks for his symphonies). What I heard from Levine on the occasion I mentioned was a slow movement that was not sustained but dragged, and a third movement that was so tortuously slow as to sacrifice all lilt and flow. In general I find in Levine's performances of Romantic music that he luxuriates in the beautiful sounds made by his orchestras and underplays nuance and accentuation. (This is perhaps most pronounced in my experienced when he conducts a late Romantic opera like Rosenkavalier, but I get this impression not just with the Met orchestra. I remember feeling on hearing Levine's Eroica with the BSO, probably in 2005, that the cross-accents at 119-121 and 522-524 of the first movement seemed distinctly undercharacterized.)
"I don't know what sforzando means, though it clearly means something."

MishaK

Quote from: Don on January 18, 2008, 12:35:03 PM
Why the hesitation with ArkivCD?

Because they just don't look nice.

Quote from: Sforzando on January 18, 2008, 12:44:48 PM
I can read scores quite well ... etc.

Sorry, that wasn't meant as an attack on you, just on Hurwitz.

Don

Quote from: O Mensch on January 18, 2008, 02:11:41 PM
Because they just don't look nice.


I appreciate your honest response (without agreeing with it).

M forever

Levine's Brahms cycle is very good, probably the best things I have heard from him on disc. The 3rd is particularly good and the Tragic Overture particularly tragic, almost apocalyptic. These readings are very rhtyhm driven and he makes the WP strings play with razor sharp precision. But they still don't lose their weight of sound and nuanced articulation. There is plenty of lyrical playing in there, too. As far as clarity and intensity are concerned, and this lyrical quality, this is probably only matched by Dohnányi's cycle with the ClevelandO, only here you get the authentic Brahms sound thrown in as well.