06 February 2010

Brahms Symphonies from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

I've bought the new Simon Rattle Brahms symphonies set for quite some time. When I was listening to these records, the thoughts of all the previous chief conductors, or whatever they were called, naturally floated into my mind. Brahms symphonies have an introverted passion 'hidden' underneath the meticulous contrapuntal structures, and it is this passion or pathos, when expressed prudently in an interpretation, that will win my heart for that performance or recording.

Quite a few notes of my listening experience have been made, and when I have time I'll weave them into a readable post. Below is the picture of my basic frame of reference. A CD of Karajan's 1960s Brahms 2nd and 3rd, his Brahms 1st on Testament, and many other Furtwängler recordings (which I believe I have collected almost all for the major works) are not shown, as they were not on hand when the scan was made. I suppose all the commercial BPO Brahms cycles are included here: Furtwängler's (sort of, as the 1st is with VPO), Eugen Jochum's, Kempe's, Karajan's x3, Abbado's, Harnoncourt's and finally Rattle's.

P.S. Oh how can I forget? Celibidache's Brahms 4th in his fiery years is also a recording for one to sample, particularly as a comparison with his recordings in his autumnal years  (albeit with other orchestras) to show the evolution, or should I say revolution, of his style, which is nothing short of shocking.


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