Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

[Todd]

      


So much Brahms, so little time.  I've known about Levine's symphony cycle on RCA for a while, but it never seemed as though it would be reissued in the States.  As soon as it was, I snapped it up, and at its current price, it's something of a bargain.  Levine and the Chicago Symphony deliver generally swift, intense, powerful readings that act as something of a foil for broader approaches from the likes of, say, Giulini or Kubelik.  The First and Fourth benefit enormously from this approach, the Second not so much, and the Third, with an intense approach and an unusual focus on brass, yields one of the most compelling versions I've heard.  That the set comes with Levine's early recording of Ein Deutsches Requiem is a bonus.  It's quite fine, and it's always a joy to hear Kathleen Battle sing.  The disc with the First Piano Concerto played by Emanuel Ax and paired with some lieder could probably have been omitted, or at least the Piano Concerto could have been.  Ax is a technically fine player, but he's got very little to say, as it were, and there is something of a mismatch between approaches of soloist and conductor.  Sound for the set is generally good if rather obviously manipulated (spotlighting, etc), and the dynamic range isn't up to modern recording standards, which was actually welcome for me as I listened to the set once while on a long drive and didn't have to constantly adjust the volume.

The set of Brahms works played by Arthur Rubinstein and a variety of other artists is equally extraordinary.  I do enjoy Rubinstein in Chopin, especially the 30s recordings, but he's never been on my radar much beyond that.  This set proved enlightening.  I've long had the Second Concerto (with Josef Krips) and additional works disc, and it's never really been a favorite.  The First, though, where Mr Rubinstein is paired with Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony is a corker – it's everything the Ax / Levine recording should have been.  The solo works are generally extremely well done, right up there with the best, though Rubinstein's technique seems stretched by the Third Sonata from time to time.  The chamber works are all excellent, with the highlight of the set being the Piano Trios played with Henryk Szeryng and Pierre Fournier.  The music making throughout the set is "old-fashioned," with nary a nod to any HIP ideas, but that's fine with me as the very notion of HIP Brahms seems a bit odd.  Sound is generally good across the set, though the Second Concerto sounds rather poor and a number of the chamber works are a bit too closely miked.  While the erstwhile majors don't release much in the way of anything these days, these bargain basement priced sets demonstrate how good things used to be, at least some of the time.

Christine Schäfer's new recital of lieder shows how good things can be today, at least some of the time.  Paired with Graham Johnson, Ms Schäfer delivers a nicely varied, wonderfully performed disc.  It's one of those discs that I listen to from start to finish.  Okay, I'm a big fan of Christine Schäfer, and I don't even try to hide my bias, but this is one fine disc – in fine sound, too.  A real peach of a disc.

All this music makes me think Brahms is pretty good.  He may even be an above average composer.

[Sergeant Rock]

All this music makes me think Brahms is pretty good.  He may even be an above average composer.

Yeah, he ain't bad   

Sarge

[karlhenning]

Pretty good for one of those dead German dudes.

[DavidW]

That Rubinstein set sure seems tempting... but I have enough Brahms for now...

[karlhenning]

That Rubinstein set sure seems tempting... but I have enough Brahms for now...

Land sakes, this Brilliant Box is the gerrooviest!

Though, I am a pushover for Martha . . . that live performance of the Opus 56b is below the green lemon.

[Hilltroll73]

The OP's comment about close-micing in the chamber music points up a common attribute of Rubinstein's recordings. He needed to be the loudest 'voice'. Heifetz had a similar sentiment.

[Mirror Image]

I don't listen to enough of Brahms to have a "Brahmsfest." I'm more partial to the Wagnerian/Brucknerian sound. Brahms is an incredible composer and rewards the listener with repeated listening, but I never quite warmed to his sound-world, although I do find a lot of enjoyment in the music whenever I listen to it.

[Mandryka]

The OP's comment about close-micing in the chamber music points up a common attribute of Rubinstein's recordings. He needed to be the loudest 'voice'. Heifetz had a similar sentiment.

I think that's less of a problem in the pre war recordings.
My favourite recordings of Brahms chamber music with Rubinstein are the trio with Feuermann and the Quartet with the Pro Arte. I also like the intermezzi  he recorded, especially the Bb-minor Op. 117 and the C#-minor . He also recorded a Brahms sonata I think -- I've never heard it.

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

Brahms speaks more directly to me than just about any composer other than Bach and Bruckner.

I just finished listening to the excellent Szell Brahms symphony cycle recorded for Columbia in the mid-60s. (I have the original LPs) I really don't think I've heard more compelling Brahms conducting than this, but you have piqued my interest in the Guilini set.

IMO this is the single greatest Brahms recording ever made. The slow movement is from another universe.

[Brahmsian]

Brahms and Beethoven are my co-favorite composers.  It took quite awhile for Brahms to reach Beethoven a top of my #1 composer, but his music is so good, especially his chamber and piano works, that I could no longer deny him a place along Herr Ludwig.

[Mandryka]

Why move this here when it's about recordings?

[Mandryka]

Brahms speaks more directly to me than just about any composer other than Bach and Bruckner.

I just finished listening to the excellent Szell Brahms symphony cycle recorded for Columbia in the mid-60s. (I have the original LPs) I really don't think I've heard more compelling Brahms conducting than this, but you have piqued my interest in the Guilini set.

There is a Guilini record which I love, not from any of his surveys of all four (I don't know either of them), but on BBC Legends -- a Brahms 1. It's a very distinctive reading, uncompromisingly tragic. I too am interested in hearing some more of Guilini 's Brahms. Which ones are best? There are recordings of all four with VPO and with Philharmonia.

[asin]B000B8655U[/asin]

I'm exploring Brahms 1 on record a bit right now and I'd certainly be curious to hear people's favourites.

[Vesteralen]

When I started listening to "classical" music back in 1969, Brahms quickly became my first "favorite" composer because of the symphonies  (at different times #2, #3 and #4 have each taken the role of "favorite").  A few years later I replaced Brahms with Schumann.  Then, in the mid-1970's I came back to Brahms primarily because of the First Piano Concerto (to which I took a long time to warm up). 

In the 1980's, 90's and 2000's, different composers have taken their place as my "favorites", including Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Barber and Nielsen.

Now, however, since I have started working my way through the Brilliant Complete Brahms at the rate of one disc per week, I think Brahms may actually have reclaimed the top spot. 

Why?

It started with the Piano Trio #2 two weeks ago.  But, this week it's "Zigueunerlieder".  I can't believe how much I love these pieces.  Give me ensemble or choral singing any day over solo voices.  Love it!

[karlhenning]

All that Brahms box is terrific.

[Brahmsian]

All that Brahms box is terrific.

*Obligatory pounding of the table*   

[Hilltroll73]

*Obligatory pounding of the table*   

Done. (though I have no intention of buying the box). Brahms deserves a thump or two.

[Renfield]

There is a Guilini record which I love, not from any of his surveys of all four (I don't know either of them), but on BBC Legends -- a Brahms 1. It's a very distinctive reading, uncompromisingly tragic. I too am interested in hearing some more of Guilini 's Brahms. Which ones are best? There are recordings of all four with VPO and with Philharmonia.

[asin]B000B8655U[/asin]

I'm exploring Brahms 1 on record a bit right now and I'd certainly be curious to hear people's favourites.

This is a superlative Brahms 1st, no mistake about that; this was also my first Giulini Brahms recording.

However, now that I've heard all of his studio Brahms (the Philharmonia and Vienna cycles, plus the Los Angeles 1st and 2nd, and the Chicago 4th), amazing as the BBC Legends one is, I have to say the Los Angeles version trumps it.

Such perfect tempo, such weight of delivery, and such excellent playing is evinced in that one that, if not for the 'impossible' live London Karajan on Testament, the Giulini Los Angeles 1st would have been my unequivocal first choice.


Edit: Another M forever recommendation, those LA recordings: credit where it's due.

[Mandryka]

Thanks for replying Renfield. I know the one with the LA Phil on DG.

In fact, there are two  recordings with the LA Phil, a live and a studio. They are both  1981. The Philharmonia Brahms which I like so much is 1961. .


I much prefer the Philharmonia  Brahms 1 to the LA one, but really they are very different. Not surprisingly given the 20 years difference between them.

The LA is more expansive and the orchestra sounds more plush. I like the London one because it is relentlessly unsmiling, relentlessly bleak. I also like the astringent sound of the London orchestra which seems to suit CMG's vision of the music in 1961. 

The Philharmonia Brahms 1 is one of my favourites, together with recordings by Furtwangler, Stokowski, Kondrashin, Mengelberg, Max Fiedler and Van Beinem. I haven't heard the Karajan recording on Testament that you mentioned, but I'll try to get hold of a copy.

[Renfield]

Thanks for replying Renfield. I know the one with the LA Phil on DG.

In fact, there are two  recordings with the LA Phil, a live and a studio. They are both  1981.

Fascinating. I didn't know that, thank you.


I see your point about the BBC Legends one; I haven't revisited it for years, but I remember that bleakness. Much like Barbirolli's Hallé Bruckner 8th, also on BBC Legends, it's a fascinating reading, but not necessarily my regular cup of tea.

I've not heard Mengelberg on the 1st, nor Van Beinem and Fiedler in any Brahms, but judging from the others on your list, I can understand why you would prefer this level of grimness. I'm not sure if the Karajan I mentioned qualifies as downright grim, though it is monumentally driven and extremely heroic (in the literal sense of 'extremely') in character. Quite unique.


Edit: The reason I like the Los Angeles Giulini (from the box set - I'm assuming it's the studio version) so much was recently discussed in the Sibelius thread, apropos of Rozhdestvensky's approach to the symphonies: it unites strictly-proportioned underlying form with lush overlying musical texture, like a kind of aural Vermeer portrait of the symphony.

[Mandryka]

That was a mistake about Max Fiedler's Brahms 1 -- I only have him in 2 and 4 (and piano concerto 2)