2 Sem 2013 - Part One

Stefano Bollani, Riccardo Chailly & Gewandhausorchester

Sounds Of The 30s

By James Manheim
These "sounds of the 30s" are classical pieces, not jazz recordings or popular songs. But, from America to France to even the Soviet Union, the influence of vernacular music in the concert hall reached a high point not matched again until the 1990s and beyond. This release, reuniting the forces heard on an earlier Gershwin recording, makes sense programmatically in its collection of works influenced by popular models; the works here, with the exception of Victor de Sabata's Mille e una notte, are common enough, but they gain by being heard together. Jazz-oriented Italian pianist Stefano Bollani nails the Piano Concerto in G major of Ravel: it is a work deeply influenced by Gershwin and by the jazz Ravel heard directly in New York, but it was by no means an imitation, and it is actually one of Ravel's more intricately structured works. Tending even more toward the use of a vernacular style accent a composer's own personality is Stravinsky's Tango, which stretches out the Argentine dance's characteristic rhythms into dry, angular shapes. The Tango is included twice here, in piano and orchestral versions, for what seems to be no very good reason. Kurt Weill, by contrast, reacted to popular music by embracing it wholeheartedly; he is represented by orchestral versions of a pair of not very familiar but entirely lovely tunes. Which leaves de Sabata, better known as a conductor but also one of the original "pops" composers; Mille e una notte is a splashy work that wears out its welcome after a while but nevertheless offers an obviously much-enjoyed good time for the performers. Generally coherent, enjoyable, and recommended.

Mannheimer Mozartorchester & Thomas Fey

Antonio Salieri: Overtures & Stage Music

By Eric Cook
Another bright, clear and intelligent recording of Antonio Salieri's stage music, both opera overtures and interludes, and incidental music. The CD is particularly nice because it offers some real rarities from a rare composer. The music for Salieri's last opera Die Neger 1802/04, and for the spoken drama Die Hussiet vor Naumberg were the highlights for me. The playing is crisp, intelligent, up beat, and nuanced. At times I thought the interpretations verged a little too much toward the edgy, but the choices never seemed "wrong" in an ultimate sense. With Salieri the composer we have a wide range of moods, themes, and orchestration; but there is often something lacking, the work doesn't fully develop, it ends too soon, or lingers a little too long; the music is always fresh, theatrical, and well constructed - but these are not pieces one comes away humming, and while most of them do have weight and depth (some more than others) and bear up well on repeated listenings - they are certainly not on the same compositional level as something by Mozart or the mature Beethoven. I love the music and always feel bad for saying that, especially because at times they come so very, very close to perfection. Also in Salieri's late music we can see a bright shining farewell to the Classical style of German/Italian Opera Buffa, and of course throughout there are many innovations and hints of the Romantic era to come, the incidental music could almost be by Beethoven, it's a pity the choral music from the work was not included. I think there has been no better overall interpreter of this material before than Fey and his excellent ensemble, at times he seems a little too brittle but he avoids any cloying or overly romantic gestures that would bog the score down, and the scores punch and bend and sing. The recording quality is clean, upfront and excellent, the program notes are intelligent and sufficient for an introduction to the material. As is so common the CD case is brittle and arrived broken, and lacks the careful packaging that accompanied Vol. I of Fey's Salieri just two years ago. While CD's last this is one worth acquiring. And if you have not acquired the first Volume, you should do so!


Joshua Bell

Violin Favoutites & Virtuoso Showpieces: Kreisler, Brahms, Paganini, Sarasate, Wieniawski



By Vera Kolb
Joshua Bell showed up on my TV screen, for the New Year's concert in which he was the soloist to perform popular pieces, such as those of Fritz Kreisler. I was watching him with weary, suspicious eyes. What can this young man (notice the reverse age discrimination on my part) teach me about these old popular virtuoso pieces? How can this "kid" from Indiana soothe my nostalgia for these pieces that I associate with "the good, old Europe"?
By the time the concert was over, I have found out that Joshua Bell, now Maestro Bell rather than "the kid from Indiana", not only captured, but improved these old violin favorites! I rushed immediately to order his records.
On the double CD "Violin Favourites & Virtuoso Showpieces", Maestro Bell plays Kreisler, Brahms, Paganini, Sarasate, Wieniawski and other composers.
This phenomenal violinist plays these pieces with an unprecedented elegance and sophistication. Most importantly, he does not suffocate his listeners with his emotions, but instead he offers a refined performance with lots of musical space for the listeners to put their five cents worth of musical emotions. He has completely rejected the idea of any schmaltz, which has unfortunately become a signature for many of these pieces. Instead, he concentrates upon and captures the intrinsic beauty of this music.
I must address his virtuosity. He is so phenomenal, that I think that Paganini could not do it any better. Maestro Bell, I feel, is not really interested in dazzling his audience (although it happens automatically), but is simply exploring the limits of what violin as an instrument and he as a performer can offer. His left- and right-hand pizzicatos, double stops, harmonics, and staccatos at a very fast pace, make violin sounds so much more exciting. His virtuosity is in service of the interpretation of the pieces he plays.
Listen carefully to Maestro Bell! You can hear every note separately, no matter how fast he plays. You may wonder how fast Maestro Bell can play. In my opinion, if he played any faster, my ears could not detect the separate notes! His playing deserves an Olympic Gold Medal!
He plays popular pieces, such as those of Kreisler, which some listeners, who consider themselves sophisticated, look down upon. And yet, these may be the pieces that they often enjoy the most, out of the entire concert, when they are played as an encore. They would never admit it! Maestro Bell's sophisticated performance of these pieces has given such listeners an opportunity to come out of their closets and enjoy Kreisler openly. They can then join the rest of us who think that there is nothing wrong with the pretty music that many generations of listeners love.
This recording is an absolute must for anybody who ever played the violin. It will make you recapture your youthful love for this beautiful instrument, which Maestro Bell shows at its best! Thank you, Maestro Bell!
Needless to say, I give Maestro Bell five stars!


Lang Lang

The Chopin Album



By Santa Fe Listener
As he turns thirty, Lang Lang continues to create divisive reactions. His worldwide celebrity status makes him critic-proof, a fact that brings out even harsher opinions. contrary to the worst detractors, he isn't a fake; in concert the technique is spectacular, and he has a flair that throws the music over the footlights. The crowds adore him personally and always will, I imagine.
On records the story is different. As this Chopin recital shows, Lang Lang's playing can be blunt and without nuance. compared to the freshness and delicacy that was evident when he first appeared, the pianist has followed Kissin in becoming somewhat hardened and impersonal in his interpretations. the opening work is the second set of Etudes Op. 25, and where I admired the flash and dazzle of Lang Lang's recent Liszt album, his focus on extrovert display in Chopin plays to the gallery, reaching for big effects without delicacy or much personal feeling. Tender, reflective Etudes like the C-sharp Minor (no. 7) afford a lovely respite. Lang Lang has a poetic side, which I find is most convincing attribute as an interpreter. The famous, spectacular "Winter Winds" Etude (no. 11) begins with finesse before it virtually explodes and the roof caves in. It's a crude reading, even though one admires the ease with which the right and left hand parts are voiced without fudging the difficulties.
The two Nocturnes that come next appeal to the pianist's lyrical side, but in Op. 55 no. 2 the phrasing is impersonal and a tad proficient. Lang Lang has such a precise touch that he can create air in between very fast passing notes, which is a marvel when Liszt write up a firestorm. The same quality gives a nice open clarity in Chopin, but legato passages sometimes feel disjointed - I'm not naming a serious flaw, only noting that the singing line isn't always brought out enough. The second Nocturne here (Op. 15 no. 1) is the most successful item so far; it's quietly reflective and touching, with restrained passion in the contrasting middle section.
Lang Lang mentions that the popular Grande Valse Brillante (Op. 18 no. 1) was among the earliest Chopin that he learned. He splits the difference between the elegance of Lipatti and the boisterous exuberance of Kissin. the result is perhaps too much of a hybrid to sound distinctive on its own, but the reading holds it own, certainly. You feel that a musical imagination is expressing itself, if somewhat cautiously. The Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise, which is so rhapsodic that it can fall apart, wasn't a work that I expected Lang Lang to excel at, but it turns out to be very impressive. His touch and phrasing are lovely, and real personality comes through.
Just as engaging are the two numbers that end the recital, the Nocturne Op. Post. in C-shapr Minor and the "Minute Waltz" (not played for speed - Lang Lang takes 2 min.) If only the rest of the recital had risen to this level, revealing what he is capable of. Like his other albums, this one won't earn unreserved praise, but the best parts won me over. The recorded sound and the piano itself are fine.
(There's a bonus pop crossover song that I will leave as a surprise, as well as a 14 min. DVD about Lang Lang's love of Chopin, which wasn't part of my download.)

Valentina Lisitsa & London Symphony Orchestra/Michael Francis

Rachmaninov: The Piano Concertos / Paganini Rhapsody



By Virginia Music Lover
The classical music reviewer Norman Lebrecht was right -- this is a dazzling Rachmaninov set that ranks with the very best ever done. He ranks it with his "modern" favorite, the early 70s version with Ashkenazy playing and Previn conducting. He also noted, interestingly, that the orchestra in each case was the London Symphony (though very few players, if any, would be the same for both sets).
In all four concerti, Lisitsa brings a highly nuanced reading which sounds completely natural. Too many players just play the torrent of notes, observing volume dynamics, but not doing much else with the pieces. Lisitsa makes little tone poems out of various sections but yet manages to hold all the sections together as one. If one listens closely one can hear not only great articulation (and power and speed where needed) but little accents and rubatos that make the pieces sing.
The LSO's playing is also on a very high level. Conductor Mike Francis, the double bass player who first made his name as a relief conductor when other conductors could not make a rehearsal, then graduated to his very own spots, is someone to watch. The LSO's playing is magnificent, lush and precise. I have read that Lisitsa sent videos to Francis before the recording sessions demonstrating how she wanted certain sections to be interpreted. (One would love to see those tapes as an instructional device.) The result is a razor sharp performance. Tutti attacks are as if one instrument was playing.
My theory about the LSO's gorgeous playing is this. As is known by some, Lisitsa mortgaged her home to make these recordings, at a personal cost of $300,000. Doubtless the LSO players knew something of this, because the circumstances of a recording session will be talked about among the players. Now imagine you are sitting in a section of the LSO, having toiled for years in music school and now in a prestigious symphony. But for many players there was always the hope that they would break from the pack and become the next Dennis Brain or Midori or whomever. I cannot help but think that the players played their hearts out for someone willing to risk all their savings on a project she believed in.
Again, the piano playing by Lisitsa is heavenly, the orchestra is responsive, the sound is well engineered (in a few cases I would have liked the engineers to have brought out a bit more piano detail but I understand there are limits to this in a concerto setting). If you want to hear the details of the piano playing, Lisitsa has recorded the solo versions of the concerti on her You Tube channel. In fact listen to the separate parts anyway, because you likely will hear notes that no recording ever uncovers.
I have listened to many many performances of these concertos over the years, from the famous and the obscure, and I cannot think of any that are better.
Most highly recommended.

1 Sem 2013 - Part Four

Mikhail Pletnev & The Russian National Orchestra
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - The Symphonies



By KMisho (Virginia)
I recently went on a hunt to find the best version of the Tchaikovsky symphonies. I listened to versions by Slatkin, Karajan, Haitink, Muti, Abbado, Mravinsky, and Jansons. I found the least convincing to be the Abbado and the Karajan. Karajan conducts in an older style that I can hardly tolerate anymore, romantic and excessive with rarely a steady tempo to be found. The Haitink sounded great but was often too slow, with the exception of his version of the 4th Symphony which I thought was one of the best. If you want a version that makes your blood boil, go with Mravinsky, though for me his style is also a bit old. The versions by Slatkin and Muti had a kinship in precision. Theirs were the most precisely controlled of all of them and I would rate them quite high, with Slatkin edging ahead. But better than all of them...much to my surprise...was the Pletnev. First, the recording quality was fantastic. In audio quality alone it was the best, with the Slatkin neck-and-neck. Pletnev's style is modern and free of pointless romantic excess. He doesn't need to rush the tempo of the exciting parts because he starts out with a quick enough pace to make that unnecessary. The stylistic touches are minimal, but where they exist they are precise and appropriate. Of All the conductors listed above, Pletnev was the only one who trusted Tchaikovsky. All the others felt as if they had to add something to the score, as if it was their job to make it exciting because Tchaikovsky hadn't made it exciting enough, or perhaps over-indulging themselves as prima dona's. Pletnev has none of this. The music is as written and with just enough stylistic flourishes to accentuate phrasing. There are some legendary versions among those I listened to when searching for the best Tchaikovsky symphonies, but to my ears and heart Pletnev beats them all without breaking a sweat.

By Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International
Admirable with a great sense of three-dimensional imaging and satisfyingly emotional musical insight.
This set underlines various lessons. One of them is not to disdain the first three symphonies. They may not have the torrid solar flares of the last three but they certainly deserve as much attention as comes the way of Balakirev 1, the Borodins, the Glazunovs and the Lyapunovs.
Pletnev is a most caring and thoughtful shaper of moods as the First Symphony shows. The playing is finely nuanced to match the strong balletic character. Indeed it made me think of Nutcracker more than once. The finale is handled with more natural passion by Bernstein with Pletnev and his RNO sounding laboured hererather than possessed. I admit the music at this point does not help. The Marche Slave makes peace with Russian nationalism and recalls the Ippolitov-Ivanov’s Sardar (from the Caucasian Sketches) but with those passionate Tchaikovskian hallmarks. It is good to hear the melodramatics of the Festival Overture on the Danish Anthem even if there are echoes or pre-echoes of 1812. The trumpet at 3.30 sounds perfectly placed in this lively resonant acoustic.
The Second Symphony is heard in its last revision. Once again we are reminded that in the 1870s Tchaikovsky, while abjuring nationalism, made common cause with the likes of Borodin and Balakirev and did this with style. The second movement recalls moments in the Fifth Symphony but without quite the same spective sturm und drang. This is more balletic. The third movement forms links with the “apotheosis of the dance” in Beethoven 7 with a dash of Nutcracker. The finale looks to the theatre again but stiffened with whirling folk-dance material. Fate was composed in 1868 and is an engaging example of a tragic mood that he was to employ with greater force and mastery in Francesca and Romeo and Juliet. Pletnev is an attentive advocate and this is well worth hearing even if Markevitch (Philips) is a more headlong champion of this rare piece. Rising from chamber intimacy to the extremes of Imperial bombast the 1812 Overture is not the chaff that we may have been tempted to conclude. This 1880 piece is reverent and thoughtful exploring a realm for which Tchaikovsky had great regard but then after some surprisingly Schumann-like passages flinging all restraint aside for some concluding the haughty and warlike revelry. If you listen with open ears there is much more of the lyricist here than of the tub-thumper - Victor Hochhauser had a lot to answer for not to mention the phalanx of hi-fi gurus of the 1960s and 1970s! The bells in this case are rather a modest presence though the orchestra at large - and especially the strings - play up a storm and the artillery impresses. Does anyone have any details of the artillery effects used?
The Third Symphony's five movements are relaxed and inhabit the mirliton world of the ballet. The moods are pastel subtle rather than painted with garish emotionalism. This is enjoyable as a character suite with Pletnev attentively limning in delicious details. The summation comes in the sturdy finale in a manner which is more Glazunov than the magus/victim of the emotional storms to come. Speaking of which, Pletnev's Romeo and Juliet ends the third disc. This is craftily weighed and paced. Much of it is understated. There is no neon dazzle under the skin unlike the more obviously alluring Stokowski which still sounds wonderful from 1959 (NY Stadium, Everest and HDTT) or a year later the superb Monteux and the LSO in Vienna. Pletnev has the edge in terms of quality of sound and the dramatic sections still hum with high tensile power - all more so because the surrounding poetics are low key – an almost English reserve.
The Fourth Symphony is my favourite among the Seven though Manfred supplants it from time to time. However the Fourth has been with me for as long as I have been gripped by concert music. This dates back to an inspired BBCTV production of Ivanhoe in the late-1960s which used the symphony for the title and incidental music. The stereo Mravinsky/Leningrad PO on DG retains pride of place though I also remember with very great affection a 1970s LP of Barenboim conducting the work - the CBS disc included a copy of the miniature full score. Pletnev handles this rather like his way with Romeo and Juliet. The lower key poetics are handled almost casually certainly with under-dramatised natural sensitivity. The scherzo - pizzicato third movement goes with a confiding swing and that hallmark microscopic attention to dynamics. The two outer movements have plenty of drippingly crimson meat reserved for the brass. Pletnev lays into the finale with a fiery whiplash. For those who find Mravinsky just too meltingly headlong Pletnev has the answer. His recording is in truly splendid sound seemingly natural and in keeping with the emotional campaign that is Tchaikovsky's plot.
Another superheated score comes in the shape of Francesca da Rimini. Ahronovich's visit to London, the LSO and the RFH in the early 1980s produced a gloriously molten concert performance - not as yet issued on CD (come on BBC Legends!). More practically any Francesca has to square up to the Stokowski 1958 Everest recording with the NY Stadium Orchestra. The difference is pretty much the same as indicated earlier on in relation to Romeo and Juliet. Stokowski is a possessed and feral enchanter and his way with the work in 1959 has the trees bend in the whooping gale. Pletnev is ferocious enough but gives minatory brooding its head. It's a fine account again and ranks among the nest. If you want an even more elemental reading then try one recommended tome by Nick Barnard - it's one on an old and dead and gone Olympia OCD and the conductor is Ovchinnikov. Pletnev embraces the romance of the piece and makes as much of a success of it as he does with Romeo and Juliet. There's also some lovingly calculated and very satisfying stereo effects.
Russian playing but without that soviet stryle bray in the brass contributions. Pity. Who drummed into those young and old players that they had to sound like Boston or New York or London or Stockholm? At the end ofFrancesca though the brass walls, gale-bent string thickets and furious percussion are given their wall-banging heads. Once again though no resonance is allowed for the tam-tam – shame!
The Fifth Symphony is on CD 5. This is a good and in the finale better than good performance, majoring on the strengths of the cycle as a whole – sane exegesis, truly inspirational sound (sample the finale) and wonderful stereo separation (try start of III). By a hair’s breadth it is not quite as well rounded and exciting as Monteux and the LSO (Vanguard). Nor is it as molten as Mravinsky, Dudamel (DG) or Stokowski in an extraordinary performance on Cameo Classics with the International Festival Orchestra. That said this is one of those performances that is likely to sustain its hold on you over the years and the craggy brass in the finale are packed with adrenaline. This is followed by a musically magical Hamlet – no need to knit your brows over which bar represents which part of the story. Just sit back and enjoy this superb piece of Tchaikovsky writing and interpretation.
The Pathétique follows a stormily grumpy Voyevoda interlaced with some uncannily supernatural and very attractive Sadko-style Rimskian pages. Capriccio Italien, alongside the First Piano Concerto, 1812, Marche Slave and Romeo and Juliet was for may years a spectacular ‘pops’ companion at 1960s and 1970s concerts in the London parks by the Victor Hochhauser organisation. It’s played ramrod straight here, with caring precision and pleases all over again not least in the engineers’ spatial placement of the percussion and brass. The Sixth Symphony was recorded previously by the same forces in 1991 in London by Virgin Classics (VC7 59661-2) and that disc had a great reputation but, by at least one account, inferior sound. It’s glorious – try the whirlwind violins at the strutting peak of the third movement (5:04) and the tender violin-borne and horn-lofted waves of the finale (3:50).
The seventh disc starts with a passionate yet nationalistic The Tempest. It is a rung down from Hamlet and two down from Romeo and Francesca but it is still well worth getting to know in this recording. This Manfredis also passionate and instantly engages and holds the listener. I cannot claim that this has the fervour of Maazel (Eloquence) the blistering intensity of Svetlanov ( BMG) or of the raw elemental power of Symeonov (Vista Vera) but it is no routine run-through. Pletnev for example takes trudging italicised care with the phrasing at the start of the finale. He is blessed with poetically distanced harp playing (11:52). He tellingly sculpts the welling up of emotion and places it unerringly with the passion-spent exhaustion of the last few bars.
Markevitch is still well worth seeking out in Tchaikovsky. He can be heard in a recent splendid reissue on Newton Classics which I hope to review here. It was out ‘originally’ on a big Philips box (426 048-211194) in 1991. He is quite the emotional magician by the side of his own cooler music. I also like Svetlanov and Rozhdestvensky - try the wonderful Regis/Alto issues whether LSO or most recently the Russian State - though I have not heard the latter in the first three symphonies. Also excellent, though largely unsung, is Temirkanov and the RPO on BMG-RCA and Jansons on Chandos.
I hope it is clear that this set is highly desirable. Compare it with 449 967-2GH5 from 1996 when DG issued only the six numbered symphonies without any ‘fillers’. It can be counted in the company of such fine Collectors Edition Universal sets as the Kodaly , the Brahms and the Prokofiev operas.
The notes by David Nice though short in supply are a good backdrop. You can always go to Warrack or Brown for more.
These discs are well filled and the recordings, which are of 1993-96 vintage and made in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, are admirable with a great sense of three-dimensional imaging and satisfying musical insight.

Tracks:
disc 1
Symphony No.1 in G minor, Op.13 "Winter Reveries"
1-1. Allegro tranquillo 13:31
2-2. Adagio cantabile ma non tanto 11:57
3-3. Scherzo (Allegro scherzando giocoso) 8:30
4-4. Finale (Andante lugubre - Allegro maestoso) 13:33
5- Slavonic March, Op.31 9:25
6- Festival Overture on the Danish National Anthem op.15 12:41

disc 2
Symphony No.2 in C minor, Op.17 "Little Russian"
1-1. Andante sostenuto - Allegro vivo 11:05
2-2. Andantino marziale, quasi moderato 6:51
3-3. Scherzo. Allegro molto vivace - Trio. L'istesso tempo 5:33
4-4. Finale. Moderato assai - Allegro vivo - Presto 9:35
5- Fatum, Op.77 18:35
6- Ouverture solennelle "1812," Op.49 15:47

disc 3
Symphony No.3 in D, Op.29 "Polish"
1-1. Introduzione e Allegro 15:26
2-2. Alla tedesca (Allegro moderato) 6:41
3-3. Andante elegiaco  9:16
4-4. Scherzo (Allegro vivo) 6:26
5-5. Finale (Allegro con fuoco) 8:38
6- Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy Overture 19:15

disc 4
Symphony No.4 in F minor, Op.36
1-1. Andante sostenuto - Moderato con anima - Moderato assai, quasi Andante - Allegro vivo 18:49
2-2. Andantino in modo di canzone  9:43
3-3. Scherzo. Pizzicato ostinato - Allegro 5:44
4-4. Finale (Allegro con fuoco) 9:00
5- Francesca da Rimini, Op.32  23:52

disc 5
Symphony No.5 in E minor, Op.64
1-1. Andante - Allegro con anima 14:56
2-2. Andante cantabile, con alcuna licenza - Moderato con anima 13:22
3-3. Valse (Allegro moderato) 5:52
4-4. Finale (Andante maestoso - Allegro vivace) 12:24
5- Hamlet - Overture-Fantasy after Shakespeare, Op.67 19:05

disc 6
1- The Voyevode, Op.78 14:10
2- Capriccio italien, Op.45 17:03
Symphony No.6 in B minor, Op.74 -"Pathétique"
3-1. Adagio - Allegro non troppo 18:49
4-2. Allegro con grazia 7:29
5-3. Allegro molto vivace 8:07
6-4. Finale (Adagio lamentoso - Andante)11:33

disc 7
1- The Tempest, Op.18 21:41
Manfred Symphony, Op.58
2-1. Lento lugubre - Moderato con moto - Andante 15:17
3-2. Vivace con spirito 9:50
4-3. Andante con moto 10:17
5-4. Allegro con fuoco

1 Sem 2013 - Part Three

András Schiff

Franz Schubert - Complete Piano Sonatas & Impromptus



By Patsy Morita
When András Schiff completed the recording of all of Schubert's piano sonatas in the 1990s, Decca released a box set containing all of the individual discs from the series. For this 2011 reissue, Decca goes one step further and includes Schiff's recordings of the Impromptus, the Moments musicaux, and several other shorter works. Schubert's music, along with that of Bach and Mozart, is one of the cornerstones upon which Schiff built his reputation as a thoughtful and intelligent performer. Anyone looking for a complete set of the Schubert sonatas could do much worse than to choose this one by one of the foremost Schubert interpreters of his generation.

By Sébastien Melmoth (Hôtel d'Alsace, PARIS) 
OMG!--finally a re-release of Schiff's Schubert Sonatas, so long-awaited, so superb.
Critics were unsure of themselves when this set appeared in the late-1990s, because it was so utterly remarkable.
Firstly, Schiff went to the national library in Vienna to research Schubert's original manuscripts: this is significant because even the finest published editions contain mistakes in expressive orthography. Schiff explains that many of Schubert's manual notations are so microscopic that they have been easily mistaken. Through his vital studies, Schiff brings an unparalleled new reading and realization.
Schiff takes all repeats, shunning to cut anything: he sees this as imperative to Schubert's musical architechtonics--and he is right in doing so.
Thirdly, Schiff purposefully chose to perform on a quintessentially classic Viennese piano: a Bösendorfer Grand Salle. This enormous grand piano has a stronger key action than the Steinway; moreover, the Bösendorfer exibits a remarkably soft, gentle, yet clear pastel tone.
Lastly, Schiff also recorded some significant individual piano pieces which are thought to be movements from "unfinished" sonatas. These are real gems.
The Impromptus are given the same treatment by Schiff: no artist has given them a better performance.
Kempff and Arrau are great with Schubert; but really for a complete sonata cycle there is none finer than Schiff's.

Tracks: 

disc 1
Piano Sonata in E major, D 157
1-1. Allegro, ma non troppo 8:25
2-2. Andante 6:56
3-3. Menuetto: Allegro vivace - Trio 4:12
Piano Sonata in A major, D 664
4-1. Allegro moderato11:07
5-2. Andante 4:12
6-3. Allegro 8:33
Piano Sonata in E major, D 459 "Fünf Klavierstücke"
7-1. Allegro moderato 7:07
8-2. Scherzo: Allegro 4:44
9-3. Adagio 5:33
10-4. Scherzo: Allegro - Trio: Più tardo 3:30
11-5. Allegro patetico 6:58

disc 2
Piano Sonata in C major, D 840 "Reliquie"
1-1. Moderato 16:59
2-2. Andante 9:51
Piano Sonata in A minor, D 845
3-1. Moderato 11:27
4-2. Andante, poco mosso 11:54
5-3. Scherzo: Allegro vivace - Trio: Un poco più lento  7:52
6-4. Rondo: Allegro vivace  5:24
7- Piano Sonata in F sharp minor, D 571  7:05

disc 3
Piano Sonata in E minor, D 566
1-1. Moderato 6:04
2-2. Allegretto 8:19
Piano Sonata in A minor, D 784
3-1. Allegro giusto 12:24
4-2. Andante 4:11
5-3. Allegro vivace 5:47
Piano Sonata in D major, D 850
6-1. Allegro vivace 9:21
7-2. Con moto 11:07
8-3. Scherzo: Allegro vivace - Trio 8:47
9-4. Rondo: Allegro moderato 8:48

disc 4

Piano Sonata in A flat major, D 557
1-1. Allegro moderato 4:15
2-2. Andante 3:36
3-3. Allegro 4:49
Piano Sonata in B major, D 575
4-1. Allegro, ma non troppo 8:42
5-2. Andante 5:21
6-3. Scherzo: Allegretto 5:24
7-4. Allegro giusto 5:39
Piano Sonata in G major, D 894
8-1. Molto moderato e cantabile 16:46
9-2. Andante 7:53
10-3. Menuetto: Allegro moderato - Trio 4:29
11-4. Allegretto 9:19

disc 5
Piano Sonata in E flat major, D 568
1-1. Allegro moderato 9:58
2-2. Andante molto 5:28
3-3. Menuetto: Allegro - Trio 4:31
4-4. Allegro moderato 9:37
Piano Sonata in C minor, D 958
5-1. Allegro 11:02
6-2. Adagio 7:44
7-3. Menuetto: Allegro - Trio 2:59
8-4. Allegro 9:22

disc 6
Piano Sonata in A minor, D 537
1-1. Allegro, ma non troppo 11:14
2-2. Allegretto, quasi Andantino 8:18
3-3. Allegro vivace 4:55
Piano Sonata in A major, D 959
4-1. Allegro 16:27
5-2. Andantino 7:17
6-3. Scherzo: Allegro vivace 5:13
7-4. Rondo: Allegretto 12:24

disc 7
Piano Sonata in C major, D 279
1-1. Allegro moderato 9:23
2-2. Andante 5:11
3-3. Menuetto: Allegro vivace - Trio 3:41
Piano Sonata in F minor, D 625
4-1. Allegro 7:34
5-2. Scherzo: Allegretto - Trio 4:41
6-3. Allegro 5:58
Piano Sonata in B flat major, D 960
7-1. Molto moderato 20:03
8-2. Andante sostenuto 9:00
9-3. Scherzo: Allegro vivace con delicatezza - Trio 3:58
10-4. Allegro, ma non troppo 9:14

disc 8
1-Hungarian Melody in B minor, D 817 3:50
- 4 Impromptus, D 899
2-No. 1 in C minor: Allegro molto moderato 10:10
3-No. 2 in E flat major: Allegro 4:53
4-No. 3 in G flat major: Andante 5:21
5-No. 4 in A flat major: Allegretto 7:50
- 6 Deutsche Tänze, D 820
6-No. 1 in A flat major: Tempo giusto 0:33
7-No. 2 in A flat major 1:00
8-No. 3 in A flat major 1:00
9-No. 4 in B flat major 0:49
10-No. 5 in B flat major 1:03
11-No. 6 in B flat major 1:40
- Moments musicaux, D 780
12-Book 1: No. 1 in C major: Moderato 6:26
13-Book 1: No. 2 in A flat major: Andantino 6:27
14-Book 1: No. 3 in F minor: Allegro moderato 2:04
15-Book 2: No. 4 in C sharp minor: Moderato 5:37
16-Book 2: No. 5 in F minor: Allegro vivace 2:31
17-Book 2: No. 6 in A flat major: Allegretto 7:32
18-Grazer Galopp, D 925 2:10

disc 9
1-Allegretto in C minor, D 915 5:14
- 3 Klavierstücke, D 946
2-No. 1 in E flat minor: Allegro assai - Andante - Andantino 7:48
3-No. 2 in E flat major: Allegretto - L'istesso tempo 10:38
4-No. 3 in C major: Allegro 5:17
5-12 Deutsche Tänze (Ländler), D 790 10:28
- 4 Impromptus, D 935
6-No. 1 in F minor: Allegro moderato 10:31
7-No. 2 in A flat major: Allegretto 6:22
8-No. 3 in B flat major: Theme (Andante) and variations 11:32
9-No. 4 in F minor: Allegro scherzando 6:30

1 Sem 2013 - Part Two

Alfred Brendel

Beethoven - The Complete Piano Sonatas

By Dominy Clements, MusicWeb International
In terms of recording quality and consistent brilliance of performance, this still has to be one of the best cycles of Beethoven’s piano sonatas available at any price.

So, are we in a good and sympathetic mood today … or do we feel picky and negative? In my view it is the job of the reviewer to be as objective as possible, and while the commentaries on the past single-disc releases of these recordings are generally very positive, there do always seem to be those voices determined to bad mouth Alfred whenever the opportunity arises. “Brendel zwendel” (swindle) was the aphorism one long-lost friend of mine always applied to him, sometimes in jest, but leaving a damning aftertaste. On the other hand there are those devout followers who will hear no bad word said against such a genius of the piano. These latter will either already have acquired the ‘new digital recordings’ when they came out on single discs in the 1990s, or bought the same box in its Philips edition 446 909 2PH10. Those who haven’t must now be delighted at being able to purchase the entire cycle somewhat more economically in the form of this chunky new Decca box. Hurrah!
If you are interested in obtaining some idea of context in which this set finds itself today, have a look at Jens Laurson’s excellent survey of Beethoven cycles on this site. My own Beethoven sonata ‘summer of love’ 2009 has been spent acquiring the remaining discs of András Schiff’s ECM cycle which I hadn’t managed to obtain as review copies. Since receiving the new Decca box I’ve begged and borrowed a listen on some samples from the earlier Brendel Beethoven recordings, and, while reluctant to go into generalisations it can be said that the Vox recordings are fascinating, if something of a ‘work in progress’ by comparison with some of the later recordings, and rather cold and dry in terms of balance. The 1970s Phillips set is a sonic improvement, with a warmer sound picture. Comparing like for like in a few fairly randomly chosen movements, and one can safely say that the last digital recordings are the best - certainly in terms of sound. On brief and all too superficial comparison I would also argue that the latest recordings are the apogee in terms of Brendel’s musical depth and insight in these works. Critics have pointed out a few individual sonatas that might not necessarily have been improved over time, the two Op.27 sonatas for instance, of which Op.27 No.2 is the famous ‘Moonlight’ Sonata. Dipping in casually and taking such performances in isolation, I can’t say I have much by way of complaints in these cases, and I’ll come back to why I think so later. Anyway, I offer apologies to those whose expertise in this area would have provided more historical anecdote and Brendel-based comparative detail, but my principal reference has to be Schiff on his individually available discs, even though at about twice the price, the economical difference between sets is rather extreme.
I chose the Schiff cycle as one of my ‘Recordings of the Year’ in 2009, not only because it is a stunning set of live performances, but because Schiff somehow awakened something in me with regard to the Beethoven piano sonatas that I hadn’t felt before with older generations of pianists like Kempff - the latter’s set admittedly at a disadvantage in my collection, being on scratchy old LPs obtained at a flea-market. Both Brendel and Schiff start with the three Op.2 sonatas on one disc, so one or two comparisons might illustrate what I mean, even in these earlier more ‘classical’ works. Take the Menuetto of the Sonata No.1 in F minor, Op.2 No.1. Schiff tiptoes in with the opening theme, leaving space in the dynamic for accents which wrong-foot the listener, and for development later on. Brendel’s approach is more legato and less extreme in the piece’s rhythmic eccentricities, but integrating the melodic line more into the texture of the whole. This has its advantage in the second contrapuntal section, which flowers with marvellous abundance under Brendel’s fingers. Schiff is drier in this middle section, saving some lushness for the parallel notes which form the climax, but at the same time keeping more of a dance feel rather than that of beautifully arching pianistic shapes. One of my favourite movements in these early sonatas is the Largo appassionato of Op.2 No.2. Schiff is measured in the opening ‘pizzicato’ bass, Brendel hardly much faster, but with greater forward momentum. Brendel’s flow between the changing character of the sections in the music is more seamless than with Schiff, maintaining a more stable tempo. Schiff takes more time over the eloquent central melodies and somehow brings out more ‘soul’ and inner drama, even though Brendel’s sense of contrast is hardly less well observed. In the subsequent Scherzo Brendel separates the opening right hand figure from its left hand answer while Schiff holds onto the higher note and allows the intervals to melt into each other more. Different kinds of wit - and I’m still not sure which I prefer.
Comparing Schiff’s live recordings against Brendel, alone in his various locations, might seem a bit like putting chalk up against cheese. I don’t plan on going over the entire cycle point for point, but what I do find for each comparison is that each informs and enriches the other. I know that, were I to listen to either pianist’s reasons for playing something in any particular way, I would end up nodding in agreement, entirely convinced by just about anything either of them said. The results bring about shifts in perspective and personal response, but the innate qualities in both are of the highest order. Schiff’s cycle is done entirely in chronological sequence but Brendel’s skips around here and there. Disc two has the Sonata No.15 Op.28 ‘Pastoral’, with that lovely song-like Andante. Schiff is more energetic with his left hand in this movement, drawing attention away from the melody at the outset, but bringing more shock to the ear as the bass stops entirely and hangs on one note for several bars. Brendel brings variation of length into some of these bass notes, but sings with a bit more subtlety with the right hand, using greater rubato and dynamic contrast to point out the transition back to the exposition repeat. His shaping of the variations is second to none, remaining consistent through the repeated harmonic structures and providing a stable platform from which the depth of Beethoven’s invention emerges with remarkable clarity. Schiff is similarly respectful of structure, but also teases more with greater changes in the character of each variation. Brendel’s approach sounds established and nobly inevitable, Schiff’s as if it is newly minted - a mite dangerous and improvisatory, liable to be changed the next time he plays it. Even though this is no doubt a well planned illusion, it is nonetheless this quality in his playing which keeps me listening.
In a kind of perverse mirror image, there are a few of Schiff’s sonatas, the final three, which were re-taken a while after the original concerts in an empty auditorium. Three in Brendel’s cycle are live as opposed to ‘studio’ takes, sonatas 5 & 6 being introduced with welcoming applause and provided with a few squeaks and noises during the performances. The recordings are very good however, and fit well enough into the set as a whole. Much as I like clean recordings, I do love live performances. You can sense the feeling of communication and on-the-edge wildness in the final Prestissimo of Sonata No.5 Op.10 No.1 and elsewhere, and this contrasts quite sharply with the different atmosphere of studio recording. Mind you, this is only partially true of the Op.10 No.3 sonata with which this disc finishes, which is pretty wild in places, Brendel setting up a real storm in the opening Presto. The remarkable Largo e mesto movement of this sonata deserves a mention here. Brendel takes a magisterial view of this, coming in at 10:28 to Schiff’s 8:12. Schiff is full of drama, but Brendel holds us just as well if not better with a far less ‘sturm und drang’ reading - reflective and poignant as well as filled with sustained and serious intent.
I’m going to move on to a few more highlights as reference points. The opening of Sonata No.8 Op.13 “Pathétique” can be one of the most dramatic in the cycle. Brendel spins the introduction out a bit too much in my opinion, and the dotted rhythms are not well enough defined to keep the right kind of intensity. Schiff keeps this tight, giving most space to the fantasy of the solo lines and is into the Allegro di molto by 1:34, where Brendel takes off at 1:58. Take off he does however, and the rest is really con brio and no mistake. The singing melody of the following Adagio cantabile will have you humming the tune long afterwards in both recordings. Again however, I am attracted to Schiff’s weighing of the underlying chords here - bringing out certain stresses and making it sound almost as if it could become a jazz ballad. Brendel conjures a different kind of tenderness - more internal and reflective, but as if playing for one other person rather than musing on the ideas with the big crowd in the background as with Schiff. Without wanting to skim over so many great works, the feeling of depth and a lifetime’s experience with these Beethoven sonatas is something on which you can always draw with Brendel. This can be considered a drawback however. Without wanting to criticise Brendel’s performances of some movements as ‘matter of fact’ there can sometimes be the feeling that, with so many notes having passed under the bridge, we can take this as a kind of ‘safe’ option.
Are we feeling pro or anti? One can go either way, demanding more of some kind of poetry; hear the music as uninvolving, see Brendel as past his best and less passionate about his Beethoven, but no, this is in fact not what I think is going on here. So many times we see the wisdom of our elder statesmen of the arts paring their work down, seeking the core, the elemental, the power in simplicity and directness of expression without the need for overt display. I am not saying these sound like an old person’s performances, but what I do hear is Brendel allowing Beethoven’s notes to speak for themselves, perhaps imposing less personality and interpretation on the music, but allowing the depth of Beethoven’s experience to be channelled through his own. This brings us back to those Op.27 sonatas, which Brendel indeed refuses to push around, but I don’t feel that these are particularly inflexible or uninvolving performances. One point at which I nearly threw the entire Schiff set out of the window was on encountering his first movement of the famous “Moonlight” sonata, Adagio Sostenuto where, in order to be consistent with following the score to the letter, he holds the sustain pedal down for the entire movement. Magical discovery or slow car-crash pianistic perversity, the generally accepted view today is that your modern grand piano can’t create the effect Beethoven had in mind on his beaten-up old Broadwood, and Brendel sensibly shifts pedal between changes of chord. Funnily enough, where they do agree is in the tempo of the following Allegretto, which is almost identical in timing for both players.
Some of the best sounding of these recordings are the ones made in The Maltings at Snape, and disc 6 with the set of three Op.31 sonatas revels in this environment. All of these come up remarkably well, from the sternly poetic Adagio of “The Tempest” to the sparking Scherzo of Op.31 No.3. On to disc 7, and one of those openings that haunt me is that of the “Waldstein” Sonata Op.53. Brendel is superb here in my view, light fingered in his traversal of all that swiftly punishing passagework, while keeping plenty of wit in those bouncy octaves and the little melodic inflections which inform the main theme. That special innigkeit is very much part of the Adagio molto which follows, and the final Rondo sounds entirely symphonic. The later A major Sonata Op.101 is superbly crafted, though the eccentricities of rhythm of the quasi-march Lebhaft second movement are once again more powerful with Schiff’s emphasis on the accents. Disc 8 gives us two beautiful performances back to back - that of the Sonata No.27 Op.90, whose opening is less sprightly than that of Schiff, but the weight of which chimes in perfectly with the empfindung of the first movement as a whole. Brendel’s lyricism in the second movement is pretty unbeatable. Op.90 is followed by the “Appassionata”, the dramatic variety from which Brendel holds back nothing. The Andante con moto of this sonata is one of those noble themes which is a touchstone for me, the right kind of performance always bringing a tear to the eye - and this one works very well indeed thank you very much. Talking of drama and lyricism, Brendel’s own voice is often remarked upon as being a bit too audible in his recordings, but aside from a few distant grunts and fairly well hidden moans and sniffs here and there I can’t say there was much to be bothered about in this set.
The “Hammerklavier” recording is another live one, made in the Musikverein in Vienna. Again, the stimulating energy in this, Brendel’s farewell to this work, is electric. Comparing Brendel on top form in a live context against Schiff in similar circumstances is like putting two jungle animals against each other in a struggle for survival, but the struggle is of course Beethoven’s, and both pianists climb their respective mountains with superb skill and musicianship. Both show equal daring, and are as moving in that central Adagio sostenuto, Brendel rather the more sustained and timeless of the two. The final disc brings us the final three sonatas, No. 30 in E major op. 109 a magnificently spacious recording from the Henry Wood Hall, and No. 31 in A flat major op. 110 and No. 32 in C minor op. 111 from the marginally warmer Maltings venue. With Schiff’s recordings of these works also done as ‘studio’ performances comparisons are invited, but short of heaping superlatives on both I am reluctant to compare point for point. Put against Schiff’s live playing I was at first a little put off by a marginally greater sense of remoteness in his recordings of these works, but if you listen to the variety of colour of timbre he brings from the strings of the piano in the more transparent writing of, say, the Gesangvoll final movement of Op.109, then there is clearly as much reward to be found here as elsewhere. Moving to Brendel in this movement and one is at once struck by the forward looking Beethoven, already anticipating Brahms’s touch in the best of that later composer’s piano works. With Schiff I sense the wild and deaf Beethoven himself at the keyboard, with Brendel I sense the status of his music on the world’s stage, past, present and future.
I almost always feel a bit ill after listening to Beethoven’s piano sonatas for longer than usual. This is not because of any aversion I have to the music, and certainly not to the performances I have attempted to describe here. This is however such a rich diet of so much powerful music that my cup runneth over after a few days: a bit like eating out at the best restaurants every evening for a month, and we all know what that feels like don’t we. In fact, having lived with Brendel and Schiff through my headphones for a while I don’t feel quite as queasy as I expected to, and in fact I could easily go back for more. It feels more as if I’ve barely scratched the surface of what this set has to offer. With any such a complete cycle of this kind there will always be performances that grab you more than others, as there are works for which you will have greater or lesser affection. Accepting this to be the case in advance, you should feel free to roam through Brendel’s magnificent achievement and make up your own mind. Thanks to this new Decca re-release, we can now all do this for not much more than the price of three full-price discs, or looking at it differently, each of these 10 discs now work out at budget price for each CD, so if that ain’t a bargain I don’t know what is. In terms of recording quality and consistent brilliance of performance, this still has to be one of the best cycles of Beethoven’s piano sonatas available at any price.

Music:
CD 1
No. 1 in F minor op. 2 no. 1 (1793-5) [17:01]
No. 2 in A major op. 2 no. 2 (1794-5) [26:07]
No. 3 in C major op. 2 no. 3 (1794-5) [26:35]
CD 2
No. 4 in E flat major op. 7 (1796-7) [29:47]
No. 15 in D major op. 28 "Pastorale" (1801) [25:41]
No. 20 in G major op. 49 no. 2 (1796) [8:18]
CD 3
No. 5 in C minor op. 10 no. 1 (1795-7) [19:51]
No. 6 in F major op. 10 no. 2 (1796-7) [14:30]
No. 7 in D major op. 10 no. 3 (1797-8) [24:28]
CD 4
No. 8 in C minor op. 13 "Pathétique" (1797-8)
No. 9 in E major op. 14 no. 1 (1798) [13:59]
No. 10 in G major op. 14 no. 2 (1799) [16:16]
No. 11 in B flat major op. 22 (1800) [23:49]
CD 5
No. 12 in A flat major op. 26 "Funeral March" (1800-01) [19:23]
No. 13 in E flat major op. 27 no. 1 (1800-01) [15:55]
No. 14 in C sharp minor op. 27 no. 2 "Moonlight" (1801) [15:02]
No. 19 in G minor op. 49 no. 1 (1797) [8:07]
CD 6
No. 16 in G major op. 31 no. 1 (1802) [23:38]
No. 17 in D minor op. 31 no. 2 "Tempest" (1802) [25:22]
No. 18 in E flat major op. 31 no. 3 (1802) [22:34]
CD 7
No. 21 in C major op. 53 "Waldstein" (1803-04) [25:14]
No. 22 in F major op. 54 (1804) [12:03]
No. 28 in A major op. 101 (1816) [21:23]
Andante favori in F major WoO 57 (1803) [9:07]
CD 8
No. 25 in G major op. 79 (1809) [9:55]
No. 24 in F sharp major op. 78 (1809) [10:40]
No. 27 in E minor op. 90 (1814) [13:57]
No. 23 in F minor op. 57 "Appassionata" (1804-05) [25:35]
CD 9
No. 29 in B flat major op. 106 "Hammerklavier" (1817-18) [44:32]
No. 26 in E flat major op. 81A "Les Adieux" (1809-10) [16:41]
CD 10
No. 30 in E major op. 109 (1820) [18:26]
No. 31 in A flat major op. 110 (1821-22) [19:12]
No. 32 in C minor op. 111 (1821-22) [27:40]

Recorded at: 

The Maltings, Snape, November 1992 (Nos.16-19, 28), February 1994 (Nos.1-3. 19, 23), October 1994 (Nos.24, 25), December 1995 (Nos.31, 32); Reitstadel, Neumarkt, Germany, April 1993 (Nos. 12-14, 21, 22, Andante favori), June 1994 (Nos.4, 8-11, 15,20, 26), March 1995 (Nos.7, 27); Frankfurt, February 1995 (Nos.5, 6, live); Grosser Saal, Musikverein, Vienna, February 1995 (no.29, live); Henry Wood Hall, London, February 1996 (No.30).

1 Sem 2013 - Part One

Simon Rattle & Berliner Philharmoniker

Brahms: The Symphonies



By Michael Cookson, MusicWeb International

“Schoenberg was right when he talked about Brahms the progressive. But yet he was really a classicist. And his aim was to bring the classic symphonic form really into the Romantic era.”-- Sir Simon Rattle

In the 1970s I would attend Hallé Orchestra concerts in their then home at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester. Conductor James Loughran had recorded the Brahms symphonies on the Classics for Pleasure label and would often include a Brahms symphony in his Hallé programmes. This was my introduction to the music of Brahms and what an appealing place it was to start. I recall saying in those days that I preferred the Brahms symphonies to those of Beethoven.
Most conductors worth their salt have conducted a complete cycle of the Brahms symphonies and I have accumulated several of them in my collection. My benchmark is the evergreen set from Otto Klemperer and the Philharmonia. These aristocratic performances of power and expression were recorded with the great producer Walter Legge at his favoured recording venue, London’s Kingsway Hall in 1956/57 (EMI Classics 5627422 - c/w ‘Haydn’ Variations; Alto Rhapsody with Christa Ludwig, mezzo; Academic Festival and Tragic Overtures). The digitally remastered sound is quite superb. With impeccable credentials Klemperer is a marvellous and experienced Brahmsian who made a studio recording of the Brahms first symphony with the Staatskapelle Berlin as early as 1928. In addition I cannot commend enough Klemperer’s recording of Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem with the Philharmonia Chorus and Orchestra – also 1961. This is another Klemperer collaboration with Walter Legge again from the Kingsway Hall (EMI Classics 5669032).
I often play the sterling performances of the symphonies 1-3 conducted by Eugen Jochum with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the Kingsway Hall, London in 1956 on EMI Classics 5695152. Re-mastered at Abbey Road studios, Jochum’s sound is excellent too. For an accompanying version of the fourth symphony I would add Carlos Kleiber’s commanding reading: 1980 Musikverein, Vienna with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra digitally recorded on Deutsche Grammophon 4577062.
I have yet to hear the first three symphonies from period instrument specialist John Eliot Gardiner/Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique on the Soli Deo Gloria label. At the time of writing the symphony No. 3, which is Gardiner’s third instalment in the series, has just been released on SDG704. If Gardiner’s 1990 London account of Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem with the Monteverdi Choir and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique on Philips 4321402 is anything to go by the Brahms symphonies should certainly be worth hearing.
The Berlin Philharmonic has recorded the Brahms symphonies numerous times under different conductors and where Karajan is concerned several times. Now after rather a long wait under the stewardship of Sir Simon Rattle I am thankful that they have at last recorded the Four which I note were made at single concert performances with some additional patching.
The Brahms symphonies are undoubtedly music that lies right at the very heart of the tradition of this great orchestra. Sir Simon explains “Brahms is so much the centre of this orchestra’s sound and style of playing. Brahms and Wagner together - that was what the orchestra began with. And of course, the works were newly minted when the orchestra was coming to birth. And in the first three years of the orchestra’s history, they played all of them and the third particularly; many, many times.”.
Only last week as part of the ‘Musikfest Berlin 09’ I took the opportunity to hear the Berlin Philharmonic under Simon Rattle at the Philharmonie in Berlin. Although performing Haydn’s oratorio ‘The Seasons’ and not Brahms I can report playing of supreme quality; frequently glorious and often breathtaking. Contrary to what we often read in the press the relationship between conductor and the Berlin players seems sincere, strong and dynamic. It was against this background that I eagerly received this three disc set. The attraction of this cycle from an orchestra that I consider the finest in the world, is an alluring and a heady one. Not surprisingly a massive marketing campaign is well underway for what is probably the most significant event in the world of recorded music this year. Last week, walking past the well-known Dussmann music store in Berlin’s Friedrichstrasse the Brahms/Rattle promotion took centre-stage in the window display. Rattle interviews proliferate in the music magazines too.
Brahms was aware that by writing symphonies he was invading the territory ruled by Beethoven. In fact Brahms had written to Hermann Levi that he could feel the presence of Beethoven marching behind him. Many Brahms supporters, notably Eduard Hanslick, were happy to acknowledge the close relationship of the Symphony No. 1 to the music of Beethoven. Hans von Bülow went further referring to the C minor symphony as, ‘Beethoven’s tenth’. Brahms was 43 and at the height of his maturity when his First Symphony was produced. The gestation period had in fact been long with sketches for the score dating back some twenty years. The premiere in November 1876 given in the great hall of Karlsruhe Museum under Otto Dessoff was a surprise to many who expected Brahms to have chosen his home city of Vienna for the performance.
I was convinced by the solemn and heavy thuds of the threatening drums that open the first movement Un poco sostenuto - Allegro. A seeming edit was however detectable at 0:26. A feature is the beautiful oboe playing of the rising motif at 2:15. Throughout this movement a confident Rattle successfully provides generous quantities of beauty and menace. In truth no one has managed to deliver an opening of such raw power approaching that of Klemperer. There is a burnished autumnal countryside feel to the E major Andante sostenuto. One could imagine conducting the orchestra at the edge of an eerily tranquil and shadowy forest whilst anticipating the ominous onset of inclement weather. I was struck by how much the rising melody carried by the solo violin at 6:08 reminded me of a section in Brahms’s Violin Concerto. Glorious lyrical melodies abound in the short Un poco allegretto e grazioso right from the swaying opening measures. Here is Brahms adopting a manner reminiscent of Mendelssohn. This is fresh music of the great outdoors evocative of cool early morning dew over a backdrop of wonderful Alpine scenery. Rattle provides a sense of intense activity in the closing Adagio - Allegro non troppo ma con brio as if lying on a verdant grassy bank watching the tones and shapes of a changing sky.
Brahms completed his Symphony No. 2 in 1877. This was a work produced quickly - mainly during a summer holiday in Pörtschach on Wörthersee, a favourite place of Brahms for several years. It’s in Carinthia - the southernmost region of Austria. A modest Brahms wrote to a friend, "I don't know whether I have a pretty symphony. I must inquire of learned persons!" This time Brahms did have the symphony premiered in Vienna with Hans Richter conducting the Philharmonic in December 1877. The score has occasionally been dubbed Brahms’ ‘Pastoral’ or occasionally the ‘Pörtschach symphony’.
The opening Allegro non troppo evinces restrained joy with an undercurrent of dark foreboding. This felt like a picture of a cool mountain lake in a deep valley with dense tree-lined slopes. This is dramatic music hewn from granite tinged with a beautiful soft edge. Permeated with low strings the sober quality is tinted with shades of solemnity. With playing of sensitivity and grace one feels that Maestro Rattle is in total control. Relatively short in length and employing only strings, woodwind and three horns the movement marked Allegretto grazioso (Quasi Andantino) is simple yet highly effective. It conveys a warm and welcoming pastoral quality. I loved the uncomplicated yet elegant oboe introduction over pizzicato cellos and the way the motif recurs. At 1.08 the sudden and short-lived Presto ma non assai section comes as rather a surprise only to return at 2:54. Throughout, this scrambling section felt I was running for shelter from a sudden and heavy shower. With assurance Rattle floats the movement to a graceful conclusion. The joyful Finale marked Allegro con spirito abounds in Haydnesque impudence and luminosity. At 5:56 I loved how the drums and trombones burst impressively on the scene. From around 8:20 to the conclusion the jubilant and awesome power that Brahms has held in reserve is unleashed.
Six years elapsed before Brahms started his Symphony No. 3 composed chiefly in the summer of 1883 at the southwest German spa town of Wiesbaden. That same year the premiere was given in December 1883 at a Vienna Philharmonic concert under Hans Richter who was to describe the score as ‘Brahms’s Eroica’.
The first movement Allegro con brio opens with majestic measures - a heady mixture of power and drama. Again an Alpine vista is easily imagined as one can feel the frosty chill of winter in the air. The quieter more reflective passages evoke skating on the flat expenses of an ice-covered lake. In the Andante the bucolic nature of the writing is typically lucid and irresistibly interpreted by Rattle. The heart-rending C minor main theme in the Poco Allegretto has a feather-light quality. But for the pizzicato notes on the double-basses that serve as an anchor it feels as if the music would just float away. Rattle provides a strong sense of urgency and determination in the colourful concluding Allegro. A feeling of raw power resonates with ingenious mood changes that take the listener by surprise.
The Symphony No. 4 was worked on at the Austrian summer resort of Mürzzuschlag in 1884 and 1885. Hans von Bülow, who had conducted a rehearsal of the score, enthused that the symphony was, “… stupendous, quite original, individual, and rock-like. Incomparable strength from start to finish.” The E minor symphony was well received at its October 1885 premiere with Brahms himself conducting the court orchestra of the Meiningen Court Theatre. Its esteem has endured and remains on many lists as Brahms’s most popular symphony. Evidently Walter Niemann was responsible for referring to the symphony as Brahms’s ‘Elegiac’ symphony.
A mood of warm serenity and joy suffuse the swaying opening Allegro non troppo. I was reminded of the verse, “perfectly cultivated earth. Honey of dawn, sun in bloom” from the poem Glimmer by Paul Éluard (1895-1952). The E major Andante moderato is a dreamscape attaining beguiling heights of fantasy and grandeur. I loved the ebullience and power of the Scherzo as Rattle propels the music forward with majestic strides. The final movement marked Allegro energico e passionate is a heroic drama constructed out of a theme and variations in the form of a passacaglia. Here Brahms provides contrasts of the broadest imagination and the playing of the Berlin Philharmonic is simply electrifying. I especially enjoyed the lovely and moving passage for solo flute at 3:19-4:02 and the volcanic hammer-blows from 7:40.
The Rattle recording was made in October and November in 2008 during live concerts in the Philharmonie in Berlin. There is no audience noise to speak of and I found the clear, slightly warm and well balanced sound highly impressive. The helpful essay in the booklet is well written too.
Rattle’s urgently spontaneous performances epitomise Romantic power of immense intensity. For many years I have been looking for a Brahms cycle to compete with Klemperer’s Olympian 1956/57 versions. With Rattle’s new set I have found it.

Tracklist :

CD1 (44;55)
Brahms Symphony no. 1 in C minor op 68
[1] I. Un poco sostenuto � Allegro � Meno allegro
[2] II. Andante sostenuto
[3] III.Un poco allegretto e grazios
[4] IV.Adagio � Pi� andante � Allegro non troppo, ma con brio - Pi� allegro

CD2 (79:16)
Brahms Symphony no. 2 in D op 73
[1] I. Allegro non troppo
[2] II. Adagio non troppo
[3] III. Allegretto grazioso (Quasi andantino)
[4] IV. Allegro con spirito
Brahms Symphony no. 3 in F op 90
[5] I. Allegro con brio
[6] II. Andante
[7] III. Poco allegretto
[8] IV. Allegro

CD 3 (42:19)
Brahms Symphony no. 4 in E minor op 98
[1] I. Allegro non troppo
[2] II. Andante moderato
[3] III. Allegro giocoso
[4] IV.Allegro energico e passionato

Berliner Philharmoniker / Simon Rattle

Recorded in concert 29th October - 14th November 2008, Philharmonie, Berlin
Producer & editor: Christophe Franke
Recording Engineer: Reni Moeller