Christa Ludwig - Brahms: 4 Symphonies / Variations
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Artist: Christa LudwigBrand: BRAHMS,J.
Composer: Johannes Brahms
Conductor: Karl Bohm
Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Edition: Music CD
Format: Box set
CD Release Date: 2002-10-08
Music Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Music reviews of Brahms: 4 Symphonies / Variations
Music Review: Classic Brahms symphonies; formidable musicianship
Rating: 5 Stars
Over the years, I have variously been told I would outgrow Brahms, or at least see his music move to the margins of my active repertoire of current musical interests. Fortunately, this has not yet happened to be the case. Instead, I have become ever more fascinated by the music, in which Schoenberg could discern the seeds of his New Music, and for which the dreaded conservative critic of Vienna, Hanslick, was wont to do battle against the tilting windmills of modernity in that turn- of-the-century epoch, especially those dragons of Wagnerism! To understand how such different cliques could have made such disparate, yet passionate use of Brahms as a key exhibit in their culture wars, one only has to listen .... again and again and again. Notoriously self-critical, Johannes made considerable efforts to present and publish only his best efforts in all genres of music. He only wrote four symphonies, but what distances other symphonists have traversed in nine, or more; it seems Brahms could compress into just four. The point of all this is that Brahms is a complicated composer who manages to draw upon much that is old, even traditional; while at the same time he strikes open into new horizons, new vistas, and above all new musics. Mozart is said to have bragged in his letters that his music had something for everyone: popular appeal for the common folk of his day, as well as formal schemes with complications and depths that probably only the highly trained musical cognoscenti would hear. Perhaps something equivalent must be also argued for Brahms' music. Thus, a conductor who succeeds in Brahms is by definition capable of discerning the old and the new, while preserving in passionate reserve the distinctiveness of Brahms's musical speech. The reissue of this set of performances of the Brahms symphonies merits our attention, because Karl Bohm was renowned in his own lifetime for being a prince of Mozartians. Given the evidence in this recorded set, he clearly was also among the most noble, and most notable, of Brahms conductors. Another part of the golden, glowing quality in these performances can only have come from the vaults of that other treasury, the Vienna Philharmonic. Brass, woodwinds, strings .... no one has quite the velvety depths of sound, as well as the mountainous granites of height and power, like the Vienna band. Karl Bohm was alleged to be quite demanding, to get what he wanted out of an orchestra; yet these recordings provide irrefutable proof that both he and the orchestra could be united in musical warmth and intimacy with the challenging demands of Brahms four symphonies. Even a somewhat stiff, foursquare, formally reserved quality that sometimes arises momentarily in these performance, every so slightly apparent in moments of transition in the keys, as the musical narrative shifts and transforms within the musical structure, would itself be quite true to what we know of Brahms as a human being. You find yourself musing that surely Karl Bohm had some of those same, authentically gruff and rough-hewn qualities himself, not too glowing nor too proud or polished to be capable of reminding us in his musical manner that Brahms played piano in the waterfront establishments of Hamburg. Now those musical patrons were neither typically noble-born, nor replete with necessities much beyond those of working-class survival. These recordings are classics, and have merited praise since their first release. Mention must also be made of alto Christa Ludwig's Alto Rhapsody, along with the burnished Viennese sounds of the male chorus that accompanies her. Sorrow, regret, and transcendently spiritualized resignation go hand in hand in her performance of this odd work. Brahms said himself that he believe it to be one of the best things he had ever prayed. Hearing all, surely we agree. Get this set now. With the marketing kids running the show, it can just as easily disappear from the catalogue as it so quickly arrived. Highly, highly recommended.
Description of Brahms: 4 Symphonies / Variations
No Description AvailableNo Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: BRAHMS,J.
Title: SYM (4)/HAYDN VARS
Street Release Date: 10/08/2002
Genre: CLASSICAL COMPOSERS
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