Reviews (4)

Brahmsian Through and Through
If anyone - and I doubt they can still get away with it - wishes to claim that Eugene Ormandy had a "one size fits all" method of conducting, I entreat them to find a more Brahmsian, more Germanic, rendering of the third B's violin concerto than this recording.Eugene Ormandy's treatment of its opening phrases is at once so disciplined yet pliant - with the setup of the same sense of majestic forbearance and layered tonality he brings to his recordings of Brahms' symphonies.The tenuous overlapping of the strings with the winds alone is a textbook example ofinstrumental balance.Listeners can clearly understand why Ormandy was so renowned as a peerless colloborator.And this overwhelming tidal wave of sound comes even before Stern's violin has uttered a note!

Too often, I have heard other maestros conduct a concerto indifferently, on the mistaken assumption that it is, after all, the soloist's opportunity to shine -- not the orchestra's -- least of all, the conductor's.Such a passive approach runs counter to the composer's intentions; especially one such as Brahms, whose musical statements are of symphonic proportions, even in his concertos and sonatas (his First Piano Concerto was originally drafted as a symphony).Ormandy presents Stern with the proverbial "tough act to follow."

Isaac Stern's genius lies in the fact that with the singular voice of his violin he rises to the challenge -- and surpasses it.His violin cuts through the orchestra sharp as a stiletto, and never lets up in heightening the sense of drama.

Ormandy's genius lies in the fact that the orchestra's accompaniment never overwhelms Stern's violin, yet also never fades into the background, either;Ormandy's is a sympathetic and holistic approach, fluid in tempo and accommodating in dynamics in providing the perfect counter-balance to Stern's performance.

Stern and Ormandy performed and recorded many great concerti together while both were with Columbia:Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Mendelssohn, both of Prokofieff's.Stern always had the highest praise for Ormandy's uncanny ability to anticipate a solist's nuances."Gene becomes an extension of your own phrasing and music making," Stern said in 1979. "It's almost as if he were taking part in your bowing as you play, because subtleties in pressure and phrasing -- if you're playing well you do them spontaneously -- he responds to instantly, even a millisecond ahead of time.

"I've often said," he joked, "that if you were going to catch cold and sneeze next week, Ormandy would already be there with a handkerchief -- you didn't know it was going to happen, but he did."Nowhere is this seamless melding of musical minds so apparent between the two than on this landmark performance.

Of all the recordings I've heard of this concerto, none can match Stern's and Ormandy's sense of tension-and-release, which is sustained from the introduction through the finale .It is, by far, the most intellectual performance I've heard -- yet so sanguine, so melodic.There is nothing sloppy or extraneous in Stern's playing:It is pure logic, an exacting rendition in which Stern is in command of every note.Like Heifetz' recording with Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony (1958), this recording is very up-tempo.Yet, unlike Heifetz-- who sometimes dashes through a passage so quickly that he glosses over notes -- every note is endowed with purpose and intent.

The finale is breathtakingly bold, without ever being brash.It's one of the best examples of sustained and controlled passion I've heard on records -- akin to God holding a force of nature in his bare hands, unleashing it at the peak of its potency.

Both Stern and Ormandy thus have produced a musical document that speaks profoundly towards the respect and awe both men had before Brahms' oeuvre: I cannot tell the difference between Stern's approach towards the work and Ormandy's.Both musicians seem to be channeling the weighty and commanding German composer, but without getting bogged down in stale, scholarly, interpretation.Their passion for Brahms comes through with a clarity one usually associates with the iconoclastic composers, such as Mahler or Satie.

Recorded in 1959, this recording is one of the earliest stereophonic recordings in either Stern's or Ormandy's career.On the compact disc, though, you can't tell:The microphones catch every nuance every raspy bass and 'cello string, the ring of the brass, the rush of the wind as its passes through the flutes and the full range of Isaac Stern's virtuosic expression on his very dolce Guarnerius del Gesu.

This is a recording for the ages: It entertains, thrills and inspires.As for the Double Concerto, it deserves equally high marks:The communication between Leonard Rose, Isaac Stern, Eugene Ormandy and the orchestra players is truly amazing, and this is the best recording I've heard of it, even topping Toscanini's recording with Frank Miller and Mischa Mischakoff.

Stern & Rose geniales
Brahms escribio sus conciertos mas bien en tiempos tardios de su carrera, esperaba poseer mayor capacidad y experiencia, y parece fue una buena opción.
El concierto para violin es hermoso y vibrante el primer movimiento es solemne, cautivante; el segundo una sonata suave, sútil, grandiosa, para terminar con una apologia al solista, un empuje al virtuosismo. Isaac Stern es un gran violinista, reconocido y que aqui nos demuestra sus capacidades, estas grabaciones hechas en los 60 nos muestran a un Stern jovial, efervecente y compenetrado con la obra.
El doble concierto es de esas joyitas que aparecen de vez en cuando, el violin y el cello en una lucha y en una simbiosis maravillosa, quien se luce mas, quien alcanza mayor fulgor. Rose no acompaña a Stern en este concierto, se disputa el honor de hacerlo mejor. El primer movimiento agradable, vivaz se extiende haciendo disfrutar cada uno de sus pasajes. El andante es soberbio, el gemido de los instrumentos solistas es electrizante, un sonido penetrante, alucinante.
Para finalizar una fiesta, una reunión alegre de los instrumentos, el violin y el cello en un intercambio y no una lucha, es alegre, vivaz, fantástico.
Ormandy junto con la orquesta de Filadelfia acompañan a Stern y Rose de manera colosal, cada sonido y acorde en total sincronía, cada instrumento a su mayor potencialidad. Dos conciertos presentados a plenitud donde solistas, orquesta y director hacen todo para lograr lo mejor. Imperdible

Violin and Cello are the two sides of the mother
At the end of his life, Brahms composed his last concerto, his last symphonic work, as a testament, and we have to think of his German Requiem to understand it. The cello is the comforting voice of the mother that is preparing him for death. The violin is the weeping voice of the mother that is suffering the death she is witnessing. The orchestra is the violent and inhumane world that rolls over everything like a steamroller. Cello and violin are the call of the mother-earth, of the deeper life that comes from the fields, the forest, the mountains, even when the violin remembers Clara Schumann and becomes an echo of the waltzes in the salons, of the marvellous woman in her brilliant dress whirling around like the whirlwind that is trying to charm the composer into entering the danse macabre that this waltz becomes. But how can we evade the crushing world of industrial frenzy ? Is there any other way than escaping into the darkness of the forest, the sombreness of the vast marshes in the night, if your soul can capture the wings of some angel or bird, the wings of the violin that is teasing you with its air-free lightness, but even so can you get away from that waltzing salon ? The second movement takes you on some sea or ocean in some boat or ship that is crossing to some distant country. You can feel the movement of the waves. Or is a night full of flowing dreams ? The third movement takes you back to earth and light village dances, and then, after the harbor, the city explodes again and the violin weeps at a certain lost virginity, at the loss of life seen as the communion with the living universe, the cosmic flow of time and space. Here everything becomes chaotic. And we come back to a crushing world from which the composer tries to escape by getting down into his own soul, into the dialogue of his dual vision of the mother whose two sides are the violin and the cello, whose head is the violin and whose tail is the cello. But where can salvation be when you are chased by a frentic world ? Or is it possible to escape by joining this frenzy ? All solutions are tried and tested. But there is no way out except... The final measures are just crushing any attempt to escape and turning the escapee into powder under the hammering of the finale.

Editorial Review

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• Box set

Reviews (27)

Very good
This is the Brahms Symphonies set to get. Every performance is great, and the sound is pretty high quality. I do not notice any problems with the acoustics. Highly recommended.

Bold and Raunchy Brahms
If you like your Brahms on the lame side like Georg Szell then this might not be for you.However, I love the freedom and emoting this orchestra does for Solti...much more exciting then the Cleveland orchestra foray.

Some of the Greatest Symphonies in History
Johannes Brahms is, I believe, one of the greatest composers that ever lived, and is certainly high on my list of favorites. His symphonies are full of various feelings - happy, sad, or angry - that other composers simply avoid. I've come to the point where happy and merry music just won't do.

After listening to the collection, I've been amazed by firsts and lasts: the First and Fourth Symphonies; and each of their First and Fourth Movements. These pieces of music evoke some of the strongest feelings, which is why I consider these my favorites.

Reviews (4)

An older recording, but still amazing
This collection of Brahms' piano quartets are a great listen all around.Every quartet has an enormous power and beauty to it.

I like to say about Brahms' music that it is airtight.There is never a wasted note.Every bit of melody, every nuance and texture in the harmony are masterfully crafted and serve a purpose.There is never a moment when you look at your watch and wonder when the composer is going to get around to wrapping this or that section up and get to the exciting stuff.

The Beaux Arts Trio along with Walter Trampler do a commendable job of bringing every moment of beauty and excitement out.They balance the sweetness of the slow movements and melodies well with the aggression and rhythmic complexities of the quicker movements.My current favorite quartet is the A Major.There is a singable melody or rhythmic puzzle in every movement.I listened to the final movement four times today (excessive I know, but it's just so much fun to try to figure out how Brahms manipulates those melodies within the time signatures)!

great recording
This is chamber music at its best played by the masters, the Beaux Arts Trio. All the pieces are played in a crisp, clean manner with the proper emotion and phrasing.

Reviews (3)

Passionate and Well-recorded Performances
The New Budapest quartet is not widely recorded - yet.This set, the first I had heard of theirs, made we want to hear more.As others have noted, the sound is excellent, warm and rich.It enhances the passionate intensity and intelligence of these performances.I had previously been familiar with the original Budapest's recordings on LP; the sound on these is much better.(I will not venture to compare the performances, since the original Budapest is simply in a class by itself.) These thoughtful interpretations reward repeated listening; I get some new insight or perspective each time I listen to one.The op. 67 almost sounded like a new piece when I heard it on this set.The third movment, mentioned in another review, is indeed different for Brahms, though I found it temperamentally reminiscent of another third movement, namely, the one in his third symphony.It is exquisitely rendered here.I cannot bear the piano quintet too often because of its emotional power.My other favorite recording is of the Guarneri with Rubinstein.This version lacks nothing.It brims with rich, articulate musicianship.Even the price is welcoming.

After hearing the Brahms, I searched out other recordings by this excellent and disciplined ensemble.I have been happy with their recordings of Borodin chamber music, d'Indy (the piano quintet is truly outstanding and features the same pianist) and the complete Beethoven quartets.The New Budapest preserves certain old school qualities in a modern context - in some respects they are the opposite of the Emerson Quartet, though both groups are technically accomplished.I find the New Budapest's recordings very rewarding and a pleasure to recommend.I look forward to hearing more from them.

It doesn't get better than these performances !
Rather than simply editing my previous inadequate commentary on these CDs (given quite a while ago), I think it's better, especially after more extended listening, that I return to them and offer, separately, a more thorough and informative review...Though the two string quartets are brothers of a sort, I find them to be two horses of a different color. The C minor No. 1 is more appealing to me. It has greater depth, and a very beautiful, poignant second movement romanze with a touch of sadness. Its first movement displays a masterful combination of diverse melodic elements--confident, bold musical strokes, mysterious tones, passion and moments of pleasant, flowing tunefulness. Though the third movement partially contains an element of tragedy, its theme and variations produce some of the most exquisite instrumental color changes I have heard. The final movement returns to the sense of drive characteristic of the opening movement. While the A minor, No.2 Quartet has its moments, e.g., a rich, flowing first movement with an intermittent melody reminiscent of the flavor of Brahms' Hungarian Dances, it can get to be a bit tiring, as it does in the second movement. Nonetheless, the New Budapest's quality of play throughout both works is exceptional.

The opus 67 Quartet reflects immediately its more cheerful major key mode. Though marked vivace, there are moments when cascading melodies are interspersed occasionally with slower moving, more serious tones. The sweet sounding andante is sporadically and faintly reminiscent of Mozart. The group gives it fluent expression. There's a winsome, almost exotic style that marks the third movement. In some ways, it is unlike anything I have ever heard before in Brahms' music. Very nice. At the onset of the last movement, I smile at the pleasant, seemingly Haydnesque refrain, which Brahms proceeds to develop through variation. A most enjoyable piece, superbly articulated by the performers.

The Piano Quintet in F minor is one of those truly masterful Brahmsian compositions. Though finished some time before his First Symphony, it clearly shows the kinds of signs that would later establish the composer as a giant among musicians. There is, at times, a monumental aspect which establishes itself early in the work, and with it, that wonderfully lyrical quality that so often typifies Brahms at his finest moments. And then, there's the gentle, tender, sometimes rhapsodic side, expressed in the musically sublime andante, played with great sensitivity by Piers Lane and the New Budapest Quartet. In the scherzo, the group's outstanding performance is evident also as it enhances, once again, the noble side of Brahms. The musical mastery of both the composer and performers carries into the dynamic and sometimes serenade-like atmosphere of the finale, where there is memorable playing from both pianist Lane and the stringed group. If you enjoy Brahms' chamber music, you will not be disappointed with these discs which, by the way, offer excellent sound. Very highly recommended.

Reviews (3)

Brahms treasures
I was especially delighted to discover the viola sonatas.They are a must-listen for any chamber music fan.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
Chamber music is a tricky thing, particularly for musicians with a highly personal musical style. How do you share a composition with other player(s) without compromising what you want to do with the piece? In intrinsically balanced compositions, such as string quartets, the problem seems to be more manageable. In sonatas for instrument and piano, however, the issue is much more tangible. The challenge can be tackled in various ways: the Perlman/Ashkenazy approach is one of perfect matching of interpretaion, which leads to a very smooth and "clean" result. The Zukerman/Barenboim approach is more liberal. The phrasing of the two is not identical, Barenboim sometimes brings things "out" that Zukerman does not, etc. The end result is gritty (partly also because of the wonderful "earthliness" of Zukerman's tone) dramatic and highly poetic, not in a sweet way. This is a magical performance. It perhaps takes a little while to get used to this higly individual approach (I was very used to the Perlman/Ashkenazy couple, in particular in their stellar Beethoven set, so I had to adjust a little...) but what can I say - I became addicted...

Reviews (3)

All one can really say is "no complaints"
Matching up virtuoso musicians, to me at any rate, is like acting. When you watch an actor onstage or on the movie screen, good acting is fluid acting. You're not supposed to think to yourself "gosh, that's really good acting." It is supposed to feel natural to all of your senses.

The same goes for music. Corny cameos from guest artists on pop records can be distracting whereas the Tony Bennett/KD Lang connection seems to just blend together like they were peanut butter and jelly. Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax, for lack of a better metaphore, are like peanut butter and jelly. Never for an instant does one overshadow the other. It is a very professional achievement in both execution and style.

If there was one thing that took effort on my part, it was that I am used to hearing Brahms music in two ways: solo piano or with a big orchestra. In both, especially the latter, a sense of majesty was the composer's calling card and it was what got me interested in him in the first place. With his sonatas for cello and piano these traits are buried. Sure, they're still there, but they don't leap out at you like his famous works do.

Still a very polished recording and worth your money.

For the performance.... AND sound
I have both the RCA and this Sony recording of the cello sonatas by Brahms.Not easy for me to decide.Both are very good.I took some time comparing the performance and sound of each sonata (as well as each movement).They come VERY close.Sorta like the 2000 presedential election recount in Florida (which is why I call it "The Recount State" : ) [I'm not going to say what political party I support]).Anyway, I've read one review that says the RCA is better.Well, after carefully comparing the two CDs, my preference is the Sony.Not because of the 20-bit digital recording, but the performance is slightly better.As for the price, if you want to save money, I think you could get the RCA recording.It's up to you.

Reviews (1)

Good Requiem....Excellent overtures
One does not normally associate Sawallisch to Brahms.At the same time, Vienna Symphony Orchestra (not to be confused with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra) is hardly a world-class orchestra.However, these recordings remind us how careful we must be when making such broad generalizations.

Unfortunately, Sawallisch's German Requiem faces strong competition from Klemperer, Karajan, and Gardiner (among many others).While Sawallisch's version ultimately falls short among such esteemed company, it is still quite good.Like the Klemperer, Sawallisch's tempi are quite fast.In that sense, I find this recording to be a good addition to the slower, more contemplative versions out there, like the Karajan on DG Galleria.Unfortunately, the weakest point of the recording is its soprano Wilma Lipp, whose wide vibrato does not suit such a glorious choral work well.Another possible flaw lies with the chorus, which sounds a bit too tepid at times.Also, the chorus is a bit inaccurate in some of the more challenging passages.The recording, however, is excellent.I could not detect much distortion (if any) even at climaxes.Incidentally, distortion during loud passages is probably the only thing that keeps me back from recommending the Klemperer recording wholeheartedly.For some reason, these distortions happen more frequently in choral recordings than purely orchestral ones.No matter, Philips did a great job with this recording, and one cannot hear such distortions (though there IS still some audible tape hiss).

The 2nd disk is the true bargain here.The two vocal pieces are very good, especially the Alto Rhapsody.The overtures tend to be on the brisk side but are nonetheless convincing.My absolute favorite here is the Haydn Variations.The all-important wind lines are properly highlighted without losing the warmth of the strings.The result is a crystal clear portrayal of the Variations that is yet full of the Brahmsian flavor.