BaL 28.04.18 - Brahms: Symphony no. 1 in C minor

[HighlandDougie]

A special mention to for the BPO/Jochum 1950s recording. And the Concertgebouw/van Beinum while I think about it.

The Jochum was my introduction to this work (my father had the Heliodor LP) and the van Beinum is my most recent discovery - thrillingly played and sounding remarkably OK for a recording made 60 years ago. My current go-to Brahms (it's on my iPhone) is Nelsons and the Boston Symphony, which suits me just fine but is probably unlikely to be mentioned in such a huge field. Thanks, as ever, to EA for the Herculean task of compiling such a long list. Oh, and I've just remembered Weingartner and the LSO and Kurt Sanderling and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra - both well worth a listen.

[visualnickmos]

Thanks, as ever, to EA for the Herculean task of compiling such a long list. Oh, and I've just remembered Weingartner and the LSO and Kurt Sanderling and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra - both well worth a listen.

Fantastic work by EA again. Well done - and 3 very loud cheers.

That Weingartner set - it is a real gem - the only 'older generation' recordings (ie 1930s mono) that sit with my main collection. The recorded sound is superb. Clarity, excellent dynamic range - etc, etc. Oh - and what fabulous playing from the LSO.

[Barbirollians]

Just got home from an excellent Brahms 1 with the Halle and Nicholas Collon.

Twist my arm and I would say the Testament Festival Hall Karajan but I would miss - Furtwangler, EMI Jochum,Boult and Loughran for starters - not forgetting Walter, Klemperer,Alsop,Kertesz and Abbado.

And the live Barbirolli recordings the VPO account less so

[richardfinegold]

The Jochum was my introduction to this work (my father had the Heliodor LP) and the van Beinum is my most recent discovery - thrillingly played and sounding remarkably OK for a recording made 60 years ago. My current go-to Brahms (it's on my iPhone) is Nelsons and the Boston Symphony, which suits me just fine but is probably unlikely to be mentioned in such a huge field. Thanks, as ever, to EA for the Herculean task of compiling such a long list. Oh, and I've just remembered Weingartner and the LSO and Kurt Sanderling and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra - both well worth a listen.

Sanderling’s cycle with Dresden Staatkapelle has long been my favorite, and I could reliably pick any of the 4 from here as my favorites. Don’t know his Berlin cycle.
My runner up would be Klemperer, and a special shout out to Janowski/Pittsburgh.
I shouldn’t even comment on the style of presentation, since we here Colonials have such limited opportunities to hear the show. However, when there are this many versions to choose from, it would make senses to have sun categories-best Historical, best HIPP, etc

[kea]

- Furtwängler 1951 (?) in the BPO big box
- Jochum with the LPO is preferable to the one with the BPO, and also among the best recordings, imo—probably my favourite in the stereo era
- Kempe with the BPO is also great, points docked for missing first movement repeat though
- Thielemann in Dresden is an interesting alternative take
- further thoughts to come later

[BBMmk2]

My goodness, Alpine! That was a marathon stint! Many thanks for doing all that! Off hand I have Klemperer, Abbado, Haitink x 2, and a Rattle.

[LeMartinPecheur]

Alpie: the LPO/Boult is still available on CD. It and all his other LPO Brahms are in the 11-CD Icon 'Boult - Bach to Wagner' Icon box, a snip at £17.99 from the Riverpeople. Or less than a tenner on Mktplace.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

- Kempe with the BPO is also great, points docked for missing first movement repeat though

Brahms did actually give his permission for this.

[Stanfordian]

For me it has to be Otto Klemperer with the Philharmonia on EMI.

I also like:
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig / Chailly - Decca
Berliner Philharmoniker /Rattle - Warner
Staatskapelle Dresden / Sanderling - RCA
Berliner Philharmoniker / Karajan - DG

[Pulcinella]

- Kempe with the BPO is also great, points docked for missing first movement repeat though

I was wondering when we would have a comment on the first movement exposition repeat (or indeed divided (left/right) violins).
I wonder though if it will get mentioned in the BaL itself.

LPO/Boult (HMV incarnation)
NDR/Wand
and a BBC MM cover CD (BBCSSO/Volkov)
here.
I like this symphony a lot, but that's enough for my shelves.

[kea]

Brahms did actually give his permission for this.

That's fair, but I personally like the repeat & the dramatic "system shock" it gives by slipping down from Eb to C (and then it makes the replacement of C with Cb in the development more dramatic).

But yes repeats in Brahms aren't strictly necessary & can almost always be skipped with no loss of coherence, I guess. Probably why he started phasing them out of his music sometime in the early 1870s.

(I have uh.... Walter/NYPO, Dohnányi/Cleveland, Jochum/LPO, Kertész/WP, Kondrashin/Concertgebouw, Bernstein/NYPO, Doráti/Minnesota, Kubelík/BRSO, Kubelík/WP, Norrington/LCP, Kempe/BPO, Mackerras/SCO, Thielemann/Dresden, and the Furtwängler mentioned above. Maybe I have too much Brahms at this point. Hm.)

[Keraulophone]

grammer

Sp.

[teamsaint]

I was wondering when we would have a comment on the first movement exposition repeat (or indeed divided (left/right) violins).
I wonder though if it will get mentioned in the BaL itself.

LPO/Boult (HMV incarnation)
NDR/Wand
and a BBC MM cover CD (BBCSSO/Volkov)
here.
I like this symphony a lot, but that's enough for my shelves.

There you go blaming your shelves again.......

I started working through the ( not sure how many, maybe 10 ) recordings I have last night, with no particular conclusion.

[Petrushka]

A key feature for me in the Brahms 1 is for the pounding timpani at the start to come across strongly. Of the very many versions on my shelves I have to say I can't exactly recall off the top of my head which ones come up best in this respect apart from the Philharmonia/Klemperer which most certainly does.

Choosing just one version is pretty well impossible and I'd go along with richardfinegold's suggestion to have separate category recommendations.

[richardfinegold]

A key feature for me in the Brahms 1 is for the pounding timpani at the start to come across strongly. Of the very many versions on my shelves I have to say I can't exactly recall off the top of my head which ones come up best in this respect apart from the Philharmonia/Klemperer which most certainly does.

Choosing just one version is pretty well impossible and I'd go along with richardfinegold's suggestion to have separate category recommendations.

Szell/Cleveland have very emphatic timps