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

[MickyD]

Yes indeed, it's a superb performance!
It's actually quite difficult for me to be unbiased about this recording, because:
1) My former pupil Andrew Clark was playing ( wonderfully) 1st horn, and
2) I was the 'assistant/ associate' producer to
David Murray, who was, of course, the chief/overall producer.

Did the LCP and Norrington set down all 4 Brahms symphonies? I can't remember.

[vinteuil]

Did the LCP and Norrington set down all 4 Brahms symphonies? I can't remember.

... yes :

http://amzn.eu/694bY2O

(Tho' you can often find them cheaper as three separate CDs : 1 + haydn vars, 2 + tragic ov, 3+4.)


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[Richard Tarleton]

My only version of Brahms 1 is (I think) absent from Alpie's list - don't think anyone's mentioned it - LSO/Stokowski, from the 1972, 70th anniversary concert (a concert I was at) - I still have the original LPs....

[MickyD]

... yes :

http://amzn.eu/694bY2O

(Tho' you can often find them cheaper as three separate CDs : 1 + haydn vars, 2 + tragic ov, 3+4.)


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Thanks Vints...how do you think they compare with Gardiner's cycle?

[gurnemanz]

Re the listed Tennstedt versions: there seem to be three of them. I have his very good LPO studio recording from 1983 (part of an EMI box). As well as the listed Stuttgart recording on ica, there is another LPO version on LPO's own label, a BBC recording from a 1992 Festival Hall concert. I don't know either of the latter two.

Re the LPO label, I note that Jurowski with that orchestra was Stephen Johnson's BaL recommendation for Brahms 2 in 2013. This is coupled on a twofer with a Brahms 1. I do not know this recording either.

[vinteuil]

Thanks Vints...how do you think they compare with Gardiner's cycle?

... I don't know the Gardiner. I've rather gone off him of late - I did like his Schumann when it came out, but when I last listened it seemed somehow forced. Is his Brahms good?

I am planning to get the Mackerras, of which good things have been said...


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[Bryn]

Yes indeed, it's a superb performance!
It's actually quite difficult for me to be unbiased about this recording, because:
1) My former pupil Andrew Clark was playing ( wonderfully) 1st horn, and
2) I was the 'assistant/ associate' producer to
David Murray, who was, of course, the chief/overall producer.

Happy to concur. No one should be put off in the slightest by the frankly typically idiotic review by one Bernard Michael O'Hanlon on amazon.co.uk etc. He's just another Amazon customer review troll.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Happy to concur. No one should be put off in the slightest by the framky typically idiotic review by one Bernard Michael O'Hanlon on amazon.co.uk etc. He's just another Amazon customer review troll.

Oh Bryn. I rather liked it.


"Now that those Nazi-hunters are running out of targets, it’s time they directed their energies elsewhere and brought Norrington to justice. How many atrocities has he perpetuated over time? Is there no end to his infamy? It matters not where he's domiciled – be it London or Stuttgart, Berkshire or the jungles of Paraguay – no expense should be spared. Consider his butchery: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Bruckner, Wagner and (what the hell) Mahler – does their suffering mean nothing to you?

"Here's another reminder why justice, swift and inexorable, is warranted: Norrington’s mutilation of Brahms’ First Symphony from the early Nineties. It’s not for the faint of heart – indeed, the Master of Disaster tortured Opus 68 before putting it out of its misery (as evidence, forensic pathologists cite his loopy phrasing, scrappiness from the London Classical Players [galley-slaves in all but name] and his purge of grandeur from the score). As much as I would like to laugh at his follies and ineptitude in the finale (where, where, where is a true climax????), Brahms deserves a better fate. As per normal, this one-trick pony trumpets the exclusion of vibrato as if that’s going to redeem his malfeasance.

"If you encounter this baleful figure, score in hand, run – don’t walk – and ring the authorities."

[Bryn]

Oh Bryn. I rather liked it.

Why does that not surprise me?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

[vinteuil]

... if Alpie had been my schoolmaster I don't think we wd have got on.

If I had been one of Alpie's pupils I think he wd have detested me.


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[Eine Alpensinfonie]

... if Alpie had been my schoolmaster I don't think we wd have got on.

If I had been one of Alpie's pupils I think he wd have detested me.


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I'm sure I would have thought you were amazing. People with a love of music like yours are worth cherishing.

[vinteuil]

I'm sure I would have thought you were amazing. People with a love of music like yours are worth cherishing.

... that's very good of you to say so, Alpie. You were clearly a good teacher.






But I was an infuriating pupil. Not all of my teachers liked being teased...

Especially when I was right and they were wrong.




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[Eine Alpensinfonie]

[Beef Oven!]

Happy to concur. No one should be put off in the slightest by the frankly typically idiotic review by one Bernard Michael O'Hanlon on amazon.co.uk etc. He's just another Amazon customer review troll.

I know what you mean Bryn, but the trick with Bernard Michael O'Hanlon is to ignore his trollish nomenclatures and focus on the sensible stuff - can be quite rewarding. After all, you don't have a problem with David H, do you?