Brahms Double Concerto

[Harry Collier]

Concertos for more than one solo instrument rarely come off well on disc (apart from Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for violin & viola). I have many recordings of Brahms double concerto for violin and cello but have never really enjoyed the work. It's usually a question of recording balance (I've never heard the work at a concert). Either violin and cello drown the orchestra, or the cello is balanced forward and drowns everyone -- as in the off-air performance by Vadim Repin with Mischa Maisky. Oistrakh and Fournier come nearest to being satisfactory up until now, but again the two soloists frequently drown the orchestra.

However, I listened yesterday evening to the brand new recording (PentaTone) of Julia Fischer and Daniel Müller-Schott (with Yakov Kreizberg conducting). And I actually enjoyed the work at last! Apart from the fact that the playing is good, the work is well recorded and balanced as a piece for orchestra, violin and cello -- almost a chamber work. Highly recommended. The coupling is the Brahms violin concerto played by glamorous Julia Fischer; I  haven't listened to this yet, partly because the same postal delivery also brought another Brahms violin concerto played by the less glamorous Katrin Scholz, a violinist I've always liked. But I'll certainly return to Fischer and Müller-Schott in the Brahms double before long.

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

I'm surprised to hear you say you've never enjoyed it; I have several recordings and I like them all. My favorite has to be Heifetz/Feuermann / Ormandy, although a version conducted by Fürtwangler with Willi Boskovsky (and a cellist whose name escapes me at the moment) is also very nice. I am sorely missing De Vito / Baldovino.

Have you seen the Oistrakh/Rostropovich on Youtube?

[Harry Collier]

I'm surprised to hear you say you've never enjoyed it; I have several recordings and I like them all.

I have Schmid and Raffé, de Vito and Baldovino, Thibaud and Casals, Stern and Rose, Milstein and Piatigorsky, Campoli and Navarra, Repin and Maisky, Boskovsky and Brabec, Heifetz and Piatigorsky, Heifetz and Feuermann, Kremer and Hagen, Oistrakh and Fournier, Tretyakov and Feigin, Ferras and Tortelier ... and now Fischer and Müller-Schott. Although many -- if not most -- of the other versions feature some superlative playing, it is to the new one I'll return since, as I said, I enjoy the almost chamber music quality of the playing and recording which seems to me to make musical sense in this work.

[beclemund]

However, I listened yesterday evening to the brand new recording (PentaTone) of Julia Fischer and Daniel Müller-Schott (with Yakov Kreizberg conducting). And I actually enjoyed the work at last!

The cutsie album cover on that recording makes me laugh whenever I look at it. A nice performance, I agree. I also enjoyed Fischer's Tchaikovsky concerto on Pentatone.

[BachQ]

However, I listened yesterday evening to the brand new recording (PentaTone) of Julia Fischer and Daniel Müller-Schott (with Yakov Kreizberg conducting). And I actually enjoyed the work at last!

Thanks for the rec . . . . . . I have yet to encounter a perfect-10 performance of this work . . . . . .

[MishaK]

I think the Ma/Perlman/CSO/Barenboim recording is quite outstanding. Haven't heard the Fischer/Kreizberg yet.

[BorisG]

Firstly, Stern/Ma/Chicago/Abbado on Sony, and secondly, Shaham/Wang/Berlin/Abbado on DG.

Were it not for Shaham, the DG would probably not be mentioned. Wang does not project quite as well as Ma, and the Berlin is more brusque than Chicago, but some may prefer that.

[dirkronk]

I have ...Thibaud and Casals, Stern and Rose, Milstein and Piatigorsky, Campoli and Navarra, ...Heifetz and Piatigorsky, ...Oistrakh and Fournier, ...Ferras and Tortelier ...

I had to chop up Harry's post to leave the ones I have...though I also have Francescatti/Fournier/Walter, Schneiderhan/Starker/Fricsay, Oistrakh/Rostropovich/Szell and Perlman/Rostropovich/Haitink. All on vinyl. I'm too lazy right now to check my CDs.

I appreciate chamber qualities in the (rare) instances when I've heard it in this piece, but I was sold early on with the power of the big tune in the first movement...and the ability of the orchestra to boost this even further. So obviously, I like this concerto in its more common representations, as well. Still, I admit that I'm curious about the Fischer/Müller-Schott/Kreizberg version. Maybe for my birthday this summer...


Dirk