Brahms Violin Concerto

[jayne lee wilson]

Their Beethoven on the Philips set is very good so this sounds promising.

Absolutely! One of my all-time favourites! Bought the CD on its release....(too long ago... how the years fly by...)....but that is what this music speaks to us about isn't it? Among much else.....

[Barbirollians]

I enjoyed it but the soloist is very prominently balanced even more so than in done of Perlman's recordings . There is a slight acidity to Szeryng's tone however that I am not sure I warm to .

I was rather keener on Szeryng’s tone in his live performance of this concerto on Orfeo with Kubelik - whole performance is a joy.

[pastoralguy]

Great to see this thread find new life!

[Barbirollians]

This Szeryng/Kubelik live account from 1967 on Orfeo is a complete delight . I recommend it very strongly . A stunner of a slow movement and a joyful finale in particular.

[Barbirollians]

The Brahms Violin Concerto was the subject of the Gramophone Collection in Gramophone this month . If you do not want to know the winner look away now ..









It was Batiashvili/Thielemann. I remember buying it at the time but I do not think it has been down from the shelf all that often .

Played it this afternoon . A grand performance but sometimes rather overly grand from Thielemann for my taste - compare Kempe for Menuhin ,Abbado for both Shaham and Mullova ,Jansen/Pappano ,Martzy/Kletzki even HVK for Mutter for example .

Batiashvili though does play marvellously often turning down the grandeur and she is splendid in the Busoni cadenza which I do not really care for timpani wise. There is a touch of coolness though that I don’t find as engaging as the very passionate accounts mentioned above . Lovely horn playing but a relatively prosaic oboe in the Adagio for my taste.

Well worth hearing but I suspect again it won’t be taken down from the shelf for a while .

PS she did choose Martzy,Menuhin/Furtwangler and Faust as her runners up .

Just started Martzy/Kletzki which despite the rather dated sound I find much more engaging.

[pastoralguy]

My favourite has always been Anne-Sophie Mutter’s with Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker. I remember saving up to buy the tape when it was first released and playing it into the ground! Her second recording with Masur is quite mannered as were many of her later recordings when her purpose seemed to be to show what a great colourist she was with the repertoire coming a rather poor second.

I can only disagree with the Gramophone’s writer who claims the Mr. Heifetz’s recording is not his finest hour. I suppose it is a little swift but, my goodness, every note is a jewel.

[smittims]

I bought the Lp of Mutter/Karajan when it came out. Nice picture of them on the sleeve.

Ther have been so many fine recorded interpretations of this sublime work that it's impossible, I should think, to select one 'best' but I'm glad I discovered Stern/RPO/Beecham, a early '50s Philips Lp which has somehow eluded me most of my life. I can't imagine a better performance overall.

[makropulos]

I think Mutter/Karajan is a wonderful performance and agree with others who have praised Jansen/Pappano. I also like Skride/Oramo (Orfeo). Plenty of other good versions, but having said all that, the record I usually go back to is Kreisler/Barbirolli –extraordinary lyricism and poetry, but always with a strong sense of direction and purpose.

[smittims]

Ah, yes, Kreisler/Barbirolli was high among the 'many fine' versions I hinted at. And of course Leon Goossens playing the introduction to the slow movement. Both Barbirolli and the producer Fred Gaisberg were devoted Kreisler fans. This was one of a batch of recordings made at Abbey Road in the mid-thrties which more or less crowned his career as a serious classical violinist.

[Stanfordian]

My favourite has always been Anne-Sophie Mutter’s with Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker.

I too think the Brahms played by Anne-Sophie Mutter with Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker is top drawer; and for one so young too. Dispite the age difference Mutter and Karajan got on so well as Mutter told me in interview that she was a similar age to his daughter and he was comfortable talking and working with one that age. Of course I have several other recordings of the Brahms that I admire too.

[Barbirollians]

I think Mutter/Karajan is a wonderful performance and agree with others who have praised Jansen/Pappano. I also like Skride/Oramo (Orfeo). Plenty of other good versions, but having said all that, the record I usually go back to is Kreisler/Barbirolli –extraordinary lyricism and poetry, but always with a strong sense of direction and purpose.

Yes - and although Kreisler might have been in slightly better form in his earlier recording with Blech - the improved sound and outstanding conducting from Barbirolli takes the 1930s version to another level .

I have always thought it rather a shame that Barbirolli's great success in accompanying these greats of the 1930s Kreisler,Heifetz , Rubinstein etc put him strongly off accompanying soloists in recordings after the war.- I think David Bicknell said the more famous the soloist the more vehemently he would refuse. Apart from the excellent Navarra Elgar I struggle to think of any others until the late flowering with du Pre and Barenboim in Elgar and Brahms.

[Mal]

The Brahms Violin Concerto was the subject of the Gramophone Collection in Gramophone this month...the winner... Batiashvili/Thielemann.

Duncan Druce also likes it in the full album review on Gramophone, nearest remark to a criticism is, "Maxim Vengerov’s... may be more overtly brilliant but Batiashvili is forceful whenever she needs to be, while proving adept in finding moments of delicacy and playfulness." I greatly enjoyed her performance of Shostakovich Violin Concerto No.1 Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Esa-Pekka Salonen last week, and I'm going through a Brahms phase, so this is a "must listen".

[silvestrione]

Yes - and although Kreisler might have been in slightly better form in his earlier recording with Blech - the improved sound and outstanding conducting from Barbirolli takes the 1930s version to another level .

I have always thought it rather a shame that Barbirolli's great success in accompanying these greats of the 1930s Kreisler,Heifetz , Rubinstein etc put him strongly off accompanying soloists in recordings after the war.- I think David Bicknell said the more famous the soloist the more vehemently he would refuse. Apart from the excellent Navarra Elgar I struggle to think of any others until the late flowering with du Pre and Barenboim in Elgar and Brahms.

That's interesting...I'm just trying to follow the logic: because nothing would match those earlier ones, in his mind, do you mean?

[Barbirollians]

That's interesting...I'm just trying to follow the logic: because nothing would match those earlier ones, in his mind, do you mean?

Sorry no . I understood that Barbirolli felt he had been rather pigeonholed as a conductor of concertos and he would be offered those rather that symphonic works he wanted to record . Indeed, I think it partly explained his move to Pye from HMV in the 1950s.

[Barbirollians]

Rather inspired by this edition of the Gramophone collection to go through my own . Starting with Kreisler/Blech I am still inclined to prefer his later recording with the Barbirolli as a better performance all round but hell how well he plays in 1927 - absolutely captivating you cannot pull your ears away from his playing .Most certainly not a record for background listening.