Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

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

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BachQ

Releasing Tuesday May 15, 2007
Symphony no 1 in C minor, Op. 68 by Johannes Brahms
Egmont, Op. 84 by Ludwig van Beethoven
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Release Date: 05/15/2007
Label:  Deutsche Grammophon   Catalog #: 000880002   
Orchestra:  Munich Symphony Orchestra
Conductor:  Christian Thielemann


quintett op.57

Quote from: Florestan on May 07, 2007, 03:24:30 AM
I love ALL his music, but especially his chamber output,
Fair! I think it's the heart of his production, like Schumann.

I saw a bit of the double concerto with Oistrakh and Rostro on TV last Saturday. Seems to be a really great performance.



BachQ

#102
Quote from: quintett op.57 on May 14, 2007, 06:26:03 AM
Fair! I think it's the heart of his production, like Schumann.

Yes, but Brahms has many hearts .........  :D  Brahms liked to make big statements, and his orchestral production -- his symphonies and concerti in equal measure -- are also core to his output ........ Same with his solo piano (like Schumann  :D) .........


val

Sonata opus 5:

First movement: Arrau, 10'33''
                       Curzon, 7'34''

Second movement: Arrau, 13'43''
                       Curzon, 11'44''

Third movement:  Arrau, 4'51''
                        Curzon, 4'50''

Fourth movement:  Arrau, 4'09''
                         Curzon, 3'48''

Fifth movement:   Arrau, 7'34''
                         Curzon, 7'28''



It is curious to compare this tempos. Curzon is much more articulated and with perfect contrasts in the sonata form of the first movement. In the long "nocturno" of the second movement, Arrau has a sublime phrasing, but Curzon is more attentive to the "dialogue" that the movement implies. Both are remarkable.
Arrau's Scherzo is very heavy when compared to the elegance of Curzon. The last two movements are not very different, but Arrau is always more dense and with more colour, Curzon more direct.

I prefer Curzon, but Arrau has extraordinary moments. Those are the best versions I know of this masterpiece, in my opinion very superior to Kissin, Gelber, Katchen, Lupu. The recording of Rubinstein is not very intersting but I saw him in concert give a version with an extraordinary tension, explosive.

BachQ

Quote from: val on June 02, 2007, 03:41:44 AM
Sonata opus 5:

First movement: Arrau, 10'33''
                       Curzon, 7'34''

Second movement: Arrau, 13'43''
                       Curzon, 11'44''

Third movement:  Arrau, 4'51''
                        Curzon, 4'50''

Fourth movement:  Arrau, 4'09''
                         Curzon, 3'48''

Fifth movement:   Arrau, 7'34''
                         Curzon, 7'28''



It is curious to compare this tempos. Curzon is much more articulated and with perfect contrasts in the sonata form of the first movement. In the long "nocturno" of the second movement, Arrau has a sublime phrasing, but Curzon is more attentive to the "dialogue" that the movement implies. Both are remarkable.
Arrau's Scherzo is very heavy when compared to the elegance of Curzon. The last two movements are not very different, but Arrau is always more dense and with more colour, Curzon more direct.

I prefer Curzon, but Arrau has extraordinary moments. Those are the best versions I know of this masterpiece, in my opinion very superior to Kissin, Gelber, Katchen, Lupu. The recording of Rubinstein is not very intersting but I saw him in concert give a version with an extraordinary tension, explosive.

Excellent post, Val  :D ....... I think you've convinced everyone reading this to give Curzon a spin ........  :D

BachQ


MishaK

Quote from: val on June 02, 2007, 03:41:44 AM
I prefer Curzon, but Arrau has extraordinary moments. Those are the best versions I know of this masterpiece, in my opinion very superior to Kissin, Gelber, Katchen, Lupu. The recording of Rubinstein is not very intersting but I saw him in concert give a version with an extraordinary tension, explosive.

You should hear Nelson Freire, Annie Fischer and, surprisingly, Daniel Barenboim in this work. Freire is just about perfect all around. Barenboim manages to be more faithful to the finest dynamic gradations than anyone else I have heard, while still retaining structure and forward momentum. Annie is simply overwhelming with her emotional conviction and fire, though I prefer Freire and Barenbiom for the lyrical aspects of the second movement. Lupu was a disappointment for me as well. A strange non-event. I heard him play this live once, which sounded sedated at first but then he came out with the most magical rendition of the last two movements I have ever heard. Kissin is bizzarely mechanical: he makes the same ritard for the same duration in the same place near the end of each phrase.

zamyrabyrd

D minor, I just want to tell you something: "G MAJOR"!!!

Yesterday, I had the privilege of playing the 1st violin and piano sonata in concert. Intense practice kept me off the boards for a while and really until the last minute I kept asking myself if there was anything I was missing in the work, it is so rich. And probably 10 years from now I will ask the same question.

The first movement is a celebration of the key of G major, a hard act to follow with the Eb Adagio and the plaintive last movement, loved by Clara Schumann. The minor theme is taken from his Regenlied but ends in major with a quote from the Adagio--a goldmine for formal analysis.

ZB
"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one."

― Charles MacKay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

BachQ

Quote from: zamyrabyrd on June 29, 2007, 08:29:52 AM
Yesterday, I had the privilege of playing the 1st violin and piano sonata in concert. Intense practice kept me off the boards for a while and really until the last minute I kept asking myself if there was anything I was missing in the work, it is so rich. And probably 10 years from now I will ask the same question.

The first movement is a celebration of the key of G major, a hard act to follow with the Eb Adagio and the plaintive last movement, loved by Clara Schumann. The minor theme is taken from his Regenlied but ends in major with a quote from the Adagio--a goldmine for formal analysis.

ZB

Congrats, ZB!  That's awesome!


BachQ

Quote from: zamyrabyrd on June 29, 2007, 08:29:52 AM
The first movement is a celebration of the key of G major, a hard act to follow with the Eb Adagio and the plaintive last movement, loved by Clara Schumann. The minor theme is taken from his Regenlied but ends in major with a quote from the Adagio--a goldmine for formal analysis.

Just located this (a truly gorgeous sonata):

  Perlman/Barenboim with the G MAJOR violin sonata (excerpt)  

Que


zamyrabyrd

#113
Quote from: D Minor on June 29, 2007, 04:29:09 PM
Just located this (a truly gorgeous sonata):
 

I'm listening to it while typing, quite nice. I hope we get to play it again since the battery in the recording mike ran out. My partner and I really pulled out all the stops so I don't know if we could call up that kind of adrenalin again.

The first read was uninhibited but afterwards we got more and more cautious, making excuses such as "well, he wrote Vivace ma non troppo and this dolce is probably a clue to slow down as well, etc." One trap is starting off in a decent tempo and then imperceptably slowing down with the eighth notes a few measures later so you have a more comfortable speed. Perlman and Barenboim deftly avoided that snare.

VIVA G MAJOR!!

ZB

"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one."

― Charles MacKay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

MishaK

Quote from: D Minor on June 29, 2007, 04:25:47 PM
Perlman & Barenboim performing Brahms D Minor Violin Sonata op. 108

Presto from D Minor Violin Sonata op. 108

Adagio from D Minor Violin Sonata op. 108

These are live performances from Chicago in 1990 or thereabouts. All of these are available on a CD from Sony. Really highly recommendable (as should be evident in any case from watching the videos). Though the recording which really knocked me out of my socks for the Brahms violin sonatas was the live "Isaac Stern returns to Russia" or something like that CD with Yefim Bronfman. Those are deeply felt, very personal performances. The mood of the moment - Stern coming back to Russia after the end of Communism - and the mood of the works themselves match up to a once in a lifetime performance. Unfortunately OOP.

zamyrabyrd

Quote from: O Mensch on June 30, 2007, 05:34:05 AM
... Though the recording which really knocked me out of my socks for the Brahms violin sonatas was the live "Isaac Stern returns to Russia" or something like that CD with Yefim Bronfman. Those are deeply felt, very personal performances.

You gotta have feeling in order to play these pieces! My first impression of the abovementioned clips was that they were too controlled, and that's precisely what I was trying to avoid.

The Royal Philharmonic Collection put out a series of chamber music that is quite good. I have the Brahms G Major and the Frank Sonata played by Ronan O'Hora (piano) and Jonathan Carney (violin).

ZB
"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one."

― Charles MacKay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

MishaK

Quote from: zamyrabyrd on June 30, 2007, 08:32:41 AM
You gotta have feeling in order to play these pieces! My first impression of the abovementioned clips was that they were too controlled, and that's precisely what I was trying to avoid.

I wouldn't say that's the case. I think there is a great deal of poetry in the Perlman/Barenboim performance. I enjoy it very much. But the qualities of the performance are harder to hear through youtube. It really is some of Perlman's finest work. The Stern/Bronfman is simply special for other reasons and a world of difference to the indeed a bit too controlled earlier effort.

BachQ

Releasing this week:



1.  Kinderszenen, Op. 15 by Robert Schumann

Performer:  Clifford Curzon (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1838; Germany
 
2.  Fantasies (7) for Piano, Op. 116: Capriccio(s) by Johannes Brahms

Performer:  Clifford Curzon (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1892; Austria


3.  Moments musicaux (6) for Piano, D 780/Op. 94: no 3 in F minor by Franz Schubert

Performer:  Clifford Curzon (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1823-1828; Vienna, Austria

4.  Impromptus (4) for Piano, D 899/Op. 90: no 4 in A flat major by Franz Schubert

Performer:  Clifford Curzon (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1827; Vienna, Austria

5.  Sonata for Piano in B flat major, D 960 by Franz Schubert

Performer:  Clifford Curzon (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1828 


Unique 2 DVD (1 + bonus) celebration of the great English pianist, who recorded exclusively for Decca.
Produced in association with the Curzon family.

In recent years Decca has released four Original Masters box sets of Curzon's recordings. Two of these were awarded Gramophone Awards as outstanding reissues.

"a perfect aristocrat of the piano" - New York Times

"No pianist, not even Schnabel himself, can match Curzon's lyric calm in this colossal score." - New York Times, on CD of Schubert's B flat major Sonata

Extra features:
* BBC Desert Island discs radio programme (Clifford Curzon chooses the recordings he would want to take to a desert island)
* Photo gallery
* Discography
* Original sleeve gallery
* Audio interviews - Curzon speaks about teachers Schnabel, Landowska, etc.
* Fritz Curzon (his son) reads from an article by Clifford Curzon
* Gold Medal acceptance speech at the Royal Philharmonic Society

Program:
Schumann: Kinderszenen, op.15; Brahms: Capriccio in D minor, op.116 1959 (in black and white)
Schubert: Moment Musical No.3, D780
Schubert: Impromptu No.4 in A flat
Schubert: Sonata for piano No.21 in B flat, D960 1968 (in colour)

Filmed BBC 1951, 1959, 1965, 1968, 1969, 1980.

Duration: 62 minutes
Disc Format: NTSC
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 full screen
Region: 0 (all)
Sound: 2.0 enhanced mono
Black & White + Color


BachQ

Releasing this week:



Composer: Johannes Brahms
Performer: Nash Ensemble
Audio CD (July 10, 2007)
SPARS Code: DDD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: Import
Label: Onyx Classics UK
ASIN: B000PFU8M0