Well my fellow musiclovers (Barbirollians especially), this little gem has slipped in under the wire with remarkably (and unjustifiably little) fanfare!
A good friend recently alerted me to the fact that Testament had issued a Brahms second symphony from 1962 with JB conducting the BPO no less. The concert from 6th June that year was a bridge-building affair between the City of Berlin/the Federal Republic of Germany and the still bomb-ravaged Midlands city. The concert was one of two given as a 'gift of music' (Jochum led them in Beethoven 7 and Bruckner 9 the day before). On the 6th, that old love JB led them in this Brahms and some RVW and Haydn. Sadly, the Brahms 2 is the only piece which remains. But what a souvenir!
I have played it about half a dozen times since it arrived and it is phenomenal. Here's a brief synopsis, following these initial listenings:
Recorded sound: Good, clean mono, little reverberant given the cathedral acoustic, but not enough to muddy the sound or create any sonic congestion. Quiet passages beautifully voiced and climaxes thunderous and portentous. Audience well-behaved. I don't think this can have been a broadcast tape (though it is of similar quality). The booklet notes are interesting on the historical background to the concerts but reveal little about the source material. A closer inspection of the fine print reveals it comes from the BPO's archive.
Performance: Brilliant. Great deal of cumulative excitement; slow passages taken at rather a stately speed, but with a good underlying pulse and still fleet of foot with never a suggestion of stasis. A beautifully conceived performance - very JB! Truly Brahms con amore.
We know of the love felt between JB and the BPO (from his Mahler recordings and the concerts he undertook with them during this decade especially) and the depth of this affection shines through every bar of this recording.
For my money it is revelatory: a knockout performance. He is a tad slower than he was to be in the Musikvereinsaal recordings for HMV in '67 (odd that, as conductors tend to become broader in tempi as they age, as a rule - JB was the best part of a minute slower in the first movement in '62.) Not a huge difference though, but the reading has a markedly different character. The emotional quotient is greatly evident and it is an impassioned reading - who could imbue music with such feeling better than JB?
The strings rich and refulgent, brass and woodwind deep and characterful and some coruscatingly high octane passages that are splendid and sear themselves in the memory quite indelibly (the seething cauldron that is the fourth movement springs readily to mind).
Once or twice, though, he puts me in mind of Furtwängler on a very good day, but perhaps sans the febrile changes in tempi. He also indulges in a huge rit. at the end of the symphony - echt Barbirolli! They cannot have been producing Brahms 2s like this back home for Herbie: not his style at all.
The audience sit on their hands at the end - either due to the Riot Act having been read in advance by the recording engineer, or perhaps owing to the sacred nature of the venue. It cannot have been for want of enthusiasm. I fairly leapt out of my seat at the end. A very good recording and a transcendental reading- much the superior of his studio VPO version!
Odd thing is, it doesn't seem to have been reviewed (unless I have somehow missed it). Anyone correct me on this point?
Here's a link for anyone interested: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Symphony-No-...9537875&sr=8-3
Catalogue Number: SBT1469
Karafan
A good friend recently alerted me to the fact that Testament had issued a Brahms second symphony from 1962 with JB conducting the BPO no less. The concert from 6th June that year was a bridge-building affair between the City of Berlin/the Federal Republic of Germany and the still bomb-ravaged Midlands city. The concert was one of two given as a 'gift of music' (Jochum led them in Beethoven 7 and Bruckner 9 the day before). On the 6th, that old love JB led them in this Brahms and some RVW and Haydn. Sadly, the Brahms 2 is the only piece which remains. But what a souvenir!
I have played it about half a dozen times since it arrived and it is phenomenal. Here's a brief synopsis, following these initial listenings:
Recorded sound: Good, clean mono, little reverberant given the cathedral acoustic, but not enough to muddy the sound or create any sonic congestion. Quiet passages beautifully voiced and climaxes thunderous and portentous. Audience well-behaved. I don't think this can have been a broadcast tape (though it is of similar quality). The booklet notes are interesting on the historical background to the concerts but reveal little about the source material. A closer inspection of the fine print reveals it comes from the BPO's archive.
Performance: Brilliant. Great deal of cumulative excitement; slow passages taken at rather a stately speed, but with a good underlying pulse and still fleet of foot with never a suggestion of stasis. A beautifully conceived performance - very JB! Truly Brahms con amore.
We know of the love felt between JB and the BPO (from his Mahler recordings and the concerts he undertook with them during this decade especially) and the depth of this affection shines through every bar of this recording.
For my money it is revelatory: a knockout performance. He is a tad slower than he was to be in the Musikvereinsaal recordings for HMV in '67 (odd that, as conductors tend to become broader in tempi as they age, as a rule - JB was the best part of a minute slower in the first movement in '62.) Not a huge difference though, but the reading has a markedly different character. The emotional quotient is greatly evident and it is an impassioned reading - who could imbue music with such feeling better than JB?
The strings rich and refulgent, brass and woodwind deep and characterful and some coruscatingly high octane passages that are splendid and sear themselves in the memory quite indelibly (the seething cauldron that is the fourth movement springs readily to mind).
Once or twice, though, he puts me in mind of Furtwängler on a very good day, but perhaps sans the febrile changes in tempi. He also indulges in a huge rit. at the end of the symphony - echt Barbirolli! They cannot have been producing Brahms 2s like this back home for Herbie: not his style at all.
The audience sit on their hands at the end - either due to the Riot Act having been read in advance by the recording engineer, or perhaps owing to the sacred nature of the venue. It cannot have been for want of enthusiasm. I fairly leapt out of my seat at the end. A very good recording and a transcendental reading- much the superior of his studio VPO version!
Odd thing is, it doesn't seem to have been reviewed (unless I have somehow missed it). Anyone correct me on this point?
Here's a link for anyone interested: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Symphony-No-...9537875&sr=8-3
Catalogue Number: SBT1469
Karafan
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