Brahms Symphony No1

[Barbirollians]

I have just realised I left out the Ancerl . A delightful very warm account .

[mathias broucek]

Yes, he did (1959). And thus the way was paved for Haitink (1961-1988) (first together with Jochum 1961-1964 as co-principal conductor - the only co-principal the Concertgebouw ever had, a fact that's virtually unknown, and suppressed a bit because it meant the orchestra which was proud of always having a Dutch conductor actually did have a non-Dutch conducor at its helm. This tradition ended with Chailly as Haitink's successor in 1988)

The orchestra has always been lucky with its Brahms conductors: Mengelberg, van Beinum, Jochum, Haitink, Chailly.

Only slighty off-topic, there's a lovely Concertgebouw/Jochum Brahms 4 in one of the Tahra boxes.

[silvestrione]

I don't seem to have a Toscanini in this work. Which would be the best of his?

[Bryn]

I don't seem to have a Toscanini in this work. Which would be the best of his?

I would suggest the 'live' Philharmonia set of all 4 symphonies, etc, on Testament. Not exactly cheap, however.

[Hornspieler]

I don't seem to have a Toscanini in this work. Which would be the best of his?

Certainly not his RFH series of concerts in the RFH with the Philharmonia. Harmony between conductor and orchestra there was not!

... and in Symphony Nº 1, the Principal trombone made such a mess of that important high entry (concert A) at the beginning of the finale that he never played for the Philharmonia again and, in fact, departed to Canada, where he signed on in an army band!


HS

[Bryn]

Alternative, rather less jaundiced reviews of the Philharmonia recordings (made by EMI but not released at the time due to 'contractual problems') may be found on the amazon.co.uk site. The customer reviews there (plus the editorial one) rate the issue very highly, despite some minor caveats. 5 stars are awarded by all six customer reviewers.

[Barbirollians]

It is a howler in the 1st symphony though !

I bought them and enjoyed them but have not played them for a long time I must admit .

[mathias broucek]

Alternative, rather less jaundiced reviews ...

We should be careful about dissing Hornspieler. I suspect that as a professional orchestral musician his ear is better attuned to these sorts of things than most professional reviewers, let alone the gifted(?) amateurs on Amazon.

My wife is also a professional musician and she hears all sorts of stuff that passes me by. Her reactions are driven by what she hears, not the reputation of a recording or performer - consequently she'll be quite rude about some celebrated and well-reviewed recordings. For example, yesterday she made me switch-off the Downes recording of the Korngold Symphony - and when I replaced it with Welser-Most it was very obvious how much better the ensemble was.

[Flay]

The 1968 Boult with the LPO is very good

That was the first record I ever bought!

[Bryn]

We should be careful about dissing Hornspieler. I suspect that as a professional orchestral musician his ear is better attuned to these sorts of things than most professional reviewers, let alone the gifted(?) amateurs on Amazon.

My wife is also a professional musician and she hears all sorts of stuff that passes me by. Her reactions are driven by what she hears, not the reputation of a recording or performer - consequently she'll be quite rude about some celebrated and well-reviewed recordings. For example, yesterday she made me switch-off the Downes recording of the Korngold Symphony - and when I replaced it with Welser-Most it was very obvious how much better the ensemble was.

It is quite common for professionals in many fields to pay so much attention to the trees that the wood's vista escapes them. Howlers happen in live performance. Wince and move on. Quite a few which occur in studio recordings make it through the pressing plant too.

[cincinnatus]

At the start of this thread Barbirollians asked when Brahms 1 was last considered on BAL. According to Mark Lowther (producer of CD Review at the time) in a letter to The Guardian, 21 Feb 06, the First Symphony was last dealt with by BAL in the early nineties.

[Barbirollians]

That's pretty shocking considering how some works seem to come round every couple of years .

A Brahms 1 BAL with RO or Robert Philip ( not Cowan ) would be just the ticket

[LeMartinPecheur]

A Brahms 1 BAL with RO or Robert Philip ( not Cowan ) would be just the ticket

RO did all four symphonies back in LP days c1979-80. He chose EMI LPO/Boult for a set of all four, and BPO/Furtwangler (a DG single LP 2535 162), Halle/Loughran and the LPO/Boult as his single-disc picks for the 1st.

Loughran? - his CfP Brahms set was highly rated when it came out but seems never to be mentioned these days. My local musical mate has to be restrained from spitting at any mention of him, and he seems to have heard him live a good few times. I've never sampled his Brahms. RO rated his 2nd too, but not 3 and 4. Can anyone explain what seems like a meteoric fall from, ahem, the podium?

[richardfinegold]

I'm delighted to see this mentioned. I've been recommending Janowski's Pittsburgh Brahms to all and sundry since first discovering it. Not just the 1st, but all four are wonderfully done.

Agreed.

[richardfinegold]

The 1968 Boult with the LPO is very good

I played this symphony under Jascha Horenstein. What an experience! I don't know whether he ever recorded it or with whom.

HS

Royal Philharmonic, available on Chessky.