BaL 5.10.24 - Brahms: Symphony 1

[Pulcinella]

1500
Building a Library

Katy Hamilton selects her favourite version of Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68.

Like so many composers in the post-Beethovenian Austro-German world, Brahms struggled with what a symphony should be and it wasn't until he was 43, with two orchestral serenades and a symphony-turned-piano-concerto under his belt that he managed to complete his first. On the surface, the First Symphony's C minor-to-major, darkness-to-light journey (and a tune in the last movement which, as Brahms put it, 'any idiot could see' was a near quote of the Ode to Joy) might seem freighted with Beethoven's pervasive influence. But this compelling music is suffused with the spirit and sound-world of late 19th century Romanticism and marks the beginning of another exceptional symphonic cycle.

Presto listing of available recordings here:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/works/55935--brahms-symphony-no-1-in-c-minor-op-68/browse

The BBC MM CD (March 2006: Volume 14, Number 7) is a performance by the BBCSSO under Ilan Volkov.

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From the website on 5 October 2024:

Katy's choice:
Johannes Brahms: The Symphonies
Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Deutsche Grammophon 4866000

[richardfinegold]

Not many recordings hereto choose from…
I have many favorites and I suspect others do as well. I always like it when someone plumps for an Uber obscure account, such as Dimitri Pickelbrain and the Pops Orchestra of the Bratislava Sausage Makers on Vox Turnabout…

[richardfinegold]

Current Favorites

Historical- Toscanini/NBC
Stereo- Kurt Sanderling/Dresden Staatkapelle
HIPP(ish) Manze/Helsingborg

honor mentions-Szell, Karajan, Furtwangler, Klemperer, and a few others

[Pulcinella]

Not many recordings hereto choose from…
I have many favorites and I suspect others do as well. I always like it when someone plumps for an Uber obscure account, such as Dimitri Pickelbrain and the Pops Orchestra of the Bratislava Sausage Makers on Vox Turnabout…

You should have packed more in your suitcase or loaded more into your iPod, then, Richard!

I wonder if we should set ourselves a new challenge: predict which recordings might make it to the shortlist that will be considered.
I suspect that the new Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Yannick Nézet-Séguin recording will be in the running.

Apart from the BBC MM disc, it's LPO/Boult, Gewandhausorchester/Chailly, Cleveland/Szell, and NDRSO/Wand on the shelves here.

[richardfinegold]

You should have packed more in your suitcase or loaded more into your iPod, then, Richard!

I wonder if we should set ourselves a new challenge: predict which recordings might make it to the shortlist that will be considered.
I suspect that the new Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Yannick Nézet-Séguin recording will be in the running.

Apart from the BBC MM disc, it's Boult, Chailly, Szell, and Wand on the shelves here.

All good choices Pulci.
I haven’t heard the YNS/COE. Ironically I listened to Berlin’s/COE on the flight over. I didn’t care at all for the YNS Mendelssohn set, which is the last CD that I will ever buy without streaming or otherwise auditioning before hand

[Petrushka]

I've got what seems like dozens of recordings of a favourite Symphony here on my groaning shelves, many of them multiple performances from the same conductor, so choosing just one seems an impossible task.

However, there are one or two that stand out from the pack and have stood the test of time. These would be Klemperer, Szell, Abbado and Walter. If forced to choose at the point of a gun, I'd opt for Abbado's first version from 1972 with the Vienna Philharmonic on DG, a performance of fire and passion that is as good as it gets. But then the same could be said of the Klemperer so I'm choosing that one too!

[LMcD]

You should have packed more in your suitcase or loaded more into your iPod, then, Richard!

I wonder if we should set ourselves a new challenge: predict which recordings might make it to the shortlist that will be considered.
I suspect that the new Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Yannick Nézet-Séguin recording will be in the running.

Apart from the BBC MM disc, it's LPO/Boult, Gewandhausorchester/Chailly, Cleveland/Szell, and NDRSO/Wand on the shelves here.

[vinteuil]

.
... the first conductor who made me feel that the Brahms symphonies were worth listening to was Norrington with the London Classical Players. I have subsequently come to enjoy Norrington with his Stuttgarters, and also Mackerras. When in the mood, John Eliot Gardiner too...

.

[Sir Velo]

For me, the recordings which capture the restless, questing spirit of this music are the aforementioned ORR (soon to be rebranded as the CCO?) and Le Cercle de l’Harmonie in an inspirational recording under the baton of its chief conductor, Jérémie Rhorer. This is the clean shaven, lithe young man that Clara S fell in love with, not the beery old curmudgeon whose bearded chops adorn too many record covers.

[richardfinegold]

.
... When in the mood, John Eliot Gardiner too...

.

I bet that version carries quite a punch

[Barbirollians]

Didn't we have this only a few years ago and much to McGregor's annoyance the reviewer chose Furtwangler ?

[Pulcinella]

Didn't we have this only a few years ago and much to McGregor's annoyance the reviewer chose Furtwangler ?

Here's a link to that previous thread:

https://www.for3.org/forums/forum/classical-forum/record-review/building-a-library/17965-bal-28-04-18-brahms-symphony-no-1-in-c-minor

[pastoralguy]

Time to trot out a story…

The great Paul Hindemith was principal viola of a fine German orchestra who, every year, would perform Brahms’ First Symphony. Every year, whoever was conducting would stop just before the horn solo in the last movement and say ‘this should sound like the sun peeping over the horizon!’ Lots of groaning followed this remark.

Anyway, this year Bruno Walter was to conduct so there would be none of that nonsense. And true to form, the passage approaches and Dr. Walter smiles at the first horn who plays his solo beautifully. Dr. Walter nods appreciatively and the movement continues.

After the highly successful performance, Hindemith goes to the conductor’s room to say how much he has enjoyed working with him. As he enters he hears Dr. Walter saying to the first horn, ‘You know, when you played your solo in the last movement it reminded me of the sun peeping over the horizon…!’

At this point, Hindemith decides to devote himself to full time composition.

[pastoralguy]

I bet that version carries quite a punch

[cloughie]

BPO Kempe