Harnoncourt might strike you as surprisingly respectful in his Berlin Brahms set. Not just toward the score (so carefully observant in those intro dynamic subtleties - I often feel that you can get the measure of a whole Brahms 1st from this introduction alone) but to the decades-long Berlin Brahms tradition, and sound, as well. He deliberately chose the orchestra for that reason. Listening to the 4th last night, I was again struck by how very longterm his thinking is, within the movement or the symphony's architecture. Some might find earlier parts of say, the 1st movement too restrained (with strikingly non-legato phrasing in the 2nd group, but wonderfully clear horns against cellos) but the excitement mounts into the coda, and the finale has the continuous intensity and drama held back until then.
As I implied, these are not the most consistently intense or dramatic readings; but very considered, searching; rewarding to live with and revisit.
***
Compared to Furtwangler’s grandstanding, fist-shaking rhetorician, MENGELBERG (Amsterdam Concertgebouw, live in 1940, Pristine download) is the impulsive, impassioned poet; an assumption I found far more congenial, as I did his daringly wild or wide-ranging rubato (emphasising a wider expressive range than WF)… He can offer sweetness and intimacy too, very touchingly in the andante; but going with the flow as ever, produces great weight of string tone where passion dictates, (e.g.just after the andante start).
Lovely wind solos (clarinets especially) here and in the grazioso too, lending the reading that classic Amsterdam freshness. (And how startlingly quick and clipped is the trio! We’re almost in HIPPs territory).
The finale largamente is soon into a confident stride, the agitato very excitable (explosive at the movement’s crisis), but unusual pauses or hesitations here (and even in the coda!) may give a listener several pauses for thought. Plenty of swoops and slides to keep portamento-addicts happy.
Almost inevitably, the great, crowning chorale is drawn out to spectacular (some might say outrageous) length, as is the final chord: with an ungainsayably thrilling result after an endlessly gripping, fascinating performance. The finale suffers a little from the engineering limitations of the time (occasionally pulled back a bit, not always as dynamic as you’d like), but is good in climaxes and always very listenable.
Mengelberg’s very frequent rubato has at least the merit of being ‘logical' - i.e. emotionally apt, since he relaxes (often almost to a point of stasis) when the music does, and tightens or accelerates, pulse-racing, as the tension mounts. This could sound formulaic but for him, at least in this live performance, it seems entirely natural. I suppose rubato is as subjective in the response as in the application, and here, it finds a positive one in me.
Pristine’s 2010 24/48 transfer (replayed as a natively-stored WAV download) of the 1940 Amsterdam concert is excellent, well above average for the time.
As I implied, these are not the most consistently intense or dramatic readings; but very considered, searching; rewarding to live with and revisit.
***
Compared to Furtwangler’s grandstanding, fist-shaking rhetorician, MENGELBERG (Amsterdam Concertgebouw, live in 1940, Pristine download) is the impulsive, impassioned poet; an assumption I found far more congenial, as I did his daringly wild or wide-ranging rubato (emphasising a wider expressive range than WF)… He can offer sweetness and intimacy too, very touchingly in the andante; but going with the flow as ever, produces great weight of string tone where passion dictates, (e.g.just after the andante start).
Lovely wind solos (clarinets especially) here and in the grazioso too, lending the reading that classic Amsterdam freshness. (And how startlingly quick and clipped is the trio! We’re almost in HIPPs territory).
The finale largamente is soon into a confident stride, the agitato very excitable (explosive at the movement’s crisis), but unusual pauses or hesitations here (and even in the coda!) may give a listener several pauses for thought. Plenty of swoops and slides to keep portamento-addicts happy.
Almost inevitably, the great, crowning chorale is drawn out to spectacular (some might say outrageous) length, as is the final chord: with an ungainsayably thrilling result after an endlessly gripping, fascinating performance. The finale suffers a little from the engineering limitations of the time (occasionally pulled back a bit, not always as dynamic as you’d like), but is good in climaxes and always very listenable.
Mengelberg’s very frequent rubato has at least the merit of being ‘logical' - i.e. emotionally apt, since he relaxes (often almost to a point of stasis) when the music does, and tightens or accelerates, pulse-racing, as the tension mounts. This could sound formulaic but for him, at least in this live performance, it seems entirely natural. I suppose rubato is as subjective in the response as in the application, and here, it finds a positive one in me.
Pristine’s 2010 24/48 transfer (replayed as a natively-stored WAV download) of the 1940 Amsterdam concert is excellent, well above average for the time.
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