Customer Reviews

Brahms: The Complete Symphonies / Karajan, Berlin PO

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Herbert von Karajan made many dearly beloved recordings of some or all of Brahms symphonies several times in his lifetime. Two complete sets are worth noting more than the others though. The recordings heard on the set reviewed here, and the recordings made in the 1960s. The set reviewed here was made in the late 1970s. At that time, DG was in the habit of using very close microphone techniques. Someone there thought "the more the merrier" and placed microphones as close to the orchestra as possible. The result is a sound that is very dry, almost entirely lacking in accoustic reverb. I dread listening to these recordings. They seem one dimensional. There is no depth. For example, the listener cannot tell if the timpani is right in front of the conductor, or in the back of the orchestra. The 1960s recordings are entirely different matter. They sound warm, three dimensional, lifelike in comparison to the 1970s. The 1960s recordings are not completely available as a set, to my knowledge. You can get #2 and #3 together (Amazon asin # B000001GBU) , but that CD is s very early remastering done in the mid 1980s, and is marred by digital graininess. For a good example of the 1960s set though, get the recording of #1 that is coupled with the Schumann #1 in DGs more recent "The Originals" series (Amazon asin # B000001GQ5). If you love Karajan's Brahms, this is the pinnacle to aim for. If only DG would issue all of the early 1960s Brahms recordings Karajan made, we who love his interpretations would be in heaven.

To his credit, Herbert von Karajan obtained a lush, warm sound from his Berlin Philharmonic that was almost as fine as the Vienna Philharmonic's. A sound which is absent in today's Berlin Philharmonic. No where is it heard better than on this two CD set from Deutsche Grammophon. However, I wouldn't rate it as one of the truly great Brahms symphony cycles. Bernard Haitink, Kurt Masur, and Kurt Sanderling have offered more inspired, more riveting accounts of Brahms' symphonies with orchestras in Amsterdam, Boston, New York and Dresden. Even Harnoncourt's recent Brahms symphony cycle with the Berlin Philharmonic sounds more dramatic - as well as innovative - than Karajan's. Karajan gives us technically perfect readings of this music that lack much of the drama associated with Brahms' scores. Perhaps his best account is of the 4th Symphony; only here does he give a riveting, dramatic interpretation of Brahms' last symphony. Unless you are a fan of Karajan's, I recommend skipping this set and acquiring any of the ones I mentioned above, with highest praise going to Haitink's, Masur's, and Sanderling's versions.

I'm a big fan of Karajan, and even though he was recently voted the #1 conductor of the century by a major classical magazine, it seems that he didn't work wonders with Brahms as consistently as I would hope. These aren't bad recordings, but with the many fine Brahms cycles that are now available, I would not recommend this set. The first symphony is not as crisp and clearly articulated as Karajan's 1964 version, which is perhaps the best on record. The second symphony lacks grace, even though it has plenty of fire. You just feel like the Berlin group is churning away in the finale. The third and fourth symphonies did not make much of an impression either. Like I say, I love Karajan--but these recordings just don't do it for me! Claudio Abbado's digital recordings with the same orchestra are fabulous, and I love Solti's version of the second--so maybe the rest of the works in his set are equally enjoyable. I have not heard Karajan's earlier versions of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Maybe they are better. I hope so!

If you like your Brahms in a melancholy mode, lushly recorded and nuanced to the max,(and I do!), this Brahms is for you. Karajan's approach is to these four symphonies so unified as to perhaps be regarded and overdetermined and sterile, but for me they evoke a variety of emotions that few other recordings do, and there are times when I listen to both CD's at a sitting, finishing, with the peerless Third. It's a fine experience.

One gets the sense with these recordings that something is wrong. Now my tastes have always ran more towards the Weimar school (Liszt, Wagner, Bruckner, Mahler) than the Liepzig school (Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms) when it comes to Romantic and post-romantic music. As a result, I trust my critical abilities less with a Brahms or Schumann performance than a Bruckner or Wagner performance. Nevertheless, upon first hearing, something was wrong with these performance. The hesitant timpani strike at the openning of the 1st symphony, the rush to get through the difficult opening movement of the 2nd symphony, and the liner notes that apologized for Karajan's approach( "one senses that Karajan is finally able to relax in the 2nd symphony" which I interpret as apology for the smooth and sterile 1st symphony) all suggest that something is amiss. Though the curmudgeon Brahms certainly lacked Schumann's Dionysian side, I can't get over the hunch that Brahms did not have in mind these slick and smooth performances that Karajan hands us. Not that these performances lack drama. The opening movement of the 3rd and the final movement of the 2nd certainly show drama. What they lack is the consuming intensity and fury that Brahms tempermentally shared with Beethoven. Perhaps what deprives the music is the nagging sense that every passage is played legato, or Karajan's tyrannical need to be in control, or even more, his fear of slipping into vulgarity. The liner notes go out of their way to assure us that Karajan's polished product is the farthest thing from vulgarity. Though Brahms performed garishly can be blush-inducing, one wishes nevertheless that Karajan would lighten his grip a bit let the more agitated elements and churning passages written into the score come to the forefront a little more.

Schumann once described Beethoven's Fourth Symphony as a slender Greek Maiden between two Norse Giants - that's crap if you ask me but even so: the adage lives on. Similarly, Karajan's 1978 Brahms cycle could be likened to a middle child; it has always suffered by comparison with the superlative '63 cycle - not least sonically - whereas the '86-88 cycle has attracted attention because of the performances of the last two symphonies where fatigue beset both the conductor and his orchestra. Elsewhere, Osborne fails to mention them in his biography on Karajan: the silence is telling.

It also has to be said that the Original Image Bit Processing did not overly revamp the performances. I had the original CDs and there is no marked improvement. In certain instances, the sound is still pancake flat. More on that later.

But what of the interpretations themselves? Karajan was well known for ossifying an interpretation once it had been settled in his mind - even so, the wind still blows where it wills - or not.

First, an overarching point: the Berlin Philharmonic play magnificently. At this point in time, they had as much thrust as a Saturn V Rocket. They are almoners of ecstasy. If anyone could have kept up with Furtwangler in the Brahms Third, it was the line-up of the Berlin Phil that Herbie used for this particular performance of the Second.

Everyone knows that Three is hard to pull off. There is an exquisite ambiguity in the first movement: is it an exposition of power or valediction? The Gramophon is normally caustic towards Karajan in the Third but they hail this performance "as satisfyingly virile and forthright reading. There is no exposition repeat, but the first movement is in every other respect conveyed in masterly fashion . . . . Throughout the work, in fact, the music's pulse beats pretty strongly." I agree. Much like the contemporary Schubert Ninth on EMI - a work which he likewise labored over - Karajan threw caution to the wind and let fly. It may not displace the Furtwangler in the last analysis but my god it is a thumper. The first violins cut through the choppiness of Brahms' passagework like the prow of a Greek trireme.

Little needs to said of this Second. Karajan was a master in this work. Not one of his performances on disc is anything less than superlative. Just listen to the last movement - it is virtuosity incarnate. Not even Furtwangler surpassed Herbie in this symphony. The only rival is the '86 remake Brahms: Symphony No. 2 / Haydn Variations.

There is not a lot wrong with the First here. It is frequently beaten with a stick to the effect that Karajan was fresher in the '63 alternative. If so, it is marginal. The leitmotiv of the work `per ardua ad astra' (through Adversity to the Stars) is fully encompassed in the finale. The heaviness of the orchestration is clarified. Much like the Second, Karajan was always a master of this symphony, his one relative failure being the mushy version he recorded with the Vienna Philharmonic in the early 1960s. His last two renditions - one studio in 1987 (Brahms: Symphony No. 1) and one live in 1988 (Brahms: Symphony No. 1; Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht) - are craggily prophetic like Michelangelo's statue of Moses.

The real problem with this set - and it is a relative one - comes with the Fourth. The two inner movements are fine. In the last movement, the intensity dips - and the same could be said of the first movement. Both Furtwangler (Brahms: Symphony No. 4; Haydn Variations / Furtwängler) and Kleiber are faster and more ferocious than Karajan and that adds to the drama. All in all, this is a compelling performance of the Fourth but it is not a Sibylline utterance.

Back to the sound. This is going to sound unsophisticated in the extreme but the answer is this: crank it up. Yep, just turn it up and blow your speakers. For whatever reason these performances shed most - if not all - of any flatness at a high volume. And it also evangelizes unbelievers in the immediate vicinity.

In short, this is a top notch cycle. It may be harder and more brutal than the '63 cycle but Brahms can withstand this approach.

I have long thought there are just two very good ways to conduct Brahms' symphonic output. One is to emphasize the use of color and intermittently lush textures in the orchestration. The other is to emphasize the vigor and uncompromising rejection of the sound of Wagner and his allies. This set is the best example of the first side of Brahms' symphonies. The set George Szell made with his ensemble, the Cleveland Symphony, is the best example of the latter.
Which recordings someone buys will be determined by one's tastes and what can be afforded. Sometimes the works of a composer lend themselves to more than one kind of interpretation, as Brahms' symphonies do. On the other hand there are some composers whose works do not lend themselves to different interpretations, like Mozart. There is good Mozart, and then there is bad Mozart, which is basically just dull and plodding.
If I could afford to buy only one recording, I would pick this set of Karajan's from the late seventies.

Along with the music of Richard Wagner, the music of Johannes Brahms was among the last onof the great composers that I came to appreciate. I knew that Herbert von Karajan rarely made a bad recording, so when I saw this in the store I knew that I had a great deal on my hands.

In order to appreciate Brahms, one has to appreciate rich color and texture. Karajan does a fine, fine job of bringing these two aspects to the fore in this recording. It's small wonder that he was the best selling classical artist of all time. Superior conducting from him, even though this was late in his career.

The Berlin Philharmonic plays with an incredible amount of passion in this recording, especially the strings. Berlin is one of a few orchestras in the world where all sections of the sections of the ensemble are equally great.

Now for recording quality. This is very, very good late analog sound, and each of these works is captured beautifully. DG's sound is as clear as ever. The Berlin Philharmonie is one of my favorite concert halls as well. Its excellent acoustics put it on a par with the Royal Concertgebouw's Hall in Amsterdam.

If one wants just one set of Brahms symphonies, I would wholeheartedly recommend this recording to them. Great music, great sound, and
an even greater price.

Bravi tutti!

Karajan's 1970's Brahms cycle is very awake, alive, and clear. No words in my meager mind can measure the slightest the pure sound of Karajan's copiously constructed treatment. The great, thick Bramsish passages are awesome and the soft, peaceful passages innately relaxing. The recording medium is nearly too thin to hear, and the performance so perfect that it also disappears, and one is left alone with Brahms to philosophize on the tremendous and delicate things of life. Listening to this music makes one feel like one is "listening to the best orchestra in the world playing the best music in the world conducted by the best conductor in the world." Indeed, this, as Karajan's many other productions, quintessentially becomes such pure and perfect sound. Karajan conducts as Brahms writes. Karajan's understanding is so deep and universal that multiple understandings can be constructed from his conducting. It is more intrinsic than specified, and pure than interpreted.

Karajan is largely considered the greatest exponent for mainstream symphonic works- Mozart, Brahms, Tchaikovsky Mahler, Dvorak and Bruckner. This collection is a terrific buy and it's affordable. You can't go wrong. Recorded in 1977 and 1978, Karajan delivers all the rich melody, grace, grandeur and musical harmony that Brahms suffused his four symphonies with. The Berlin Philharmonic are trained so that even the strings move with miraculous exactitude. The only other worthy set is Solti's. This one has everything one can hope for in Brahms symphonies.

Karajan was always a champion of his own German music's history. He is still regarded as the first-rate exponent of Wagner and Strauss for example. Brahms, born in Austria, was another composer whose Germanic music Karajan was able to aptly depict through the magic of his baton. The impressive parts of this set include the entire 1st symphony- not reduced to the Beethoven parody some make it out to be. Instead, it holds its own as a work of compelling power. The finale is inspirational. The finale to the second is equally as moving. The 4th symphony is my favorite symphony of the post Beethoven Romantic Era. In this symphony we find a mixture of mysticism, romantic beauty and classical balance. In it we also find, in the last movement, the greatest example of theme and variations, Brahm's strongest suit as a composer. Karajan knows his stuff. You can never go wrong with any of his interpretations, though he, too, has his detractors. His Tchaikovsky tends to be too fiery and melodramatic for example and he was never at home with Italian opera as he was in German. Karajan is brilliant and his Berlin forces electrify. At a cheap price, this is a must have if you call yourself a true classical music fan.