Brahms: Serenade No. 1 / Tragic, & Academic Festival Overtures

Johannes Brahms (Composer), Michael Tilson Thomas (Conductor), London Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Michael Tilson Thomas
• Composer: Johannes Brahms
• Audio CD (January 14, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00000270S
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #330,504 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The First Serenade is a lovely work--sunny and fresh sounding--but Michael Tilson Thomas has not quite solved all of its interpretive problems. Perhaps this is due to the unpleasant digital recording, which manages to make the orchestra sound both glaring and thick at the same time. There are many excellent performances of this piece (István Kertész, Sir Adrian Boult, Yoel Levi), so you're not missing anything if you pass on this one. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Strangely tired, affectless Brahms, September 21, 2005

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Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Brahms: Serenade No. 1 / Tragic, & Academic Festival Overtures (Audio CD)

I am a geat lover of both Brahms serenades, so pickedup the Tilson Thomas recordings of both with great anticipaiton. All I can say is that he has surprisingly little feeling for Brahms, and both CDs went to the bottom of my list. Tempos lack any kind of joy or brio, and overall there is a sense that opportunities for pointed accents and luyrical flights are being missed right and left.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Brahms to grace my ears, January 11, 1999

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[e-mail] (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brahms: Serenade No. 1 / Tragic, & Academic Festival Overtures (Audio CD)

I've listened to the music of Johannes Brahms since before I could walk. I am always seeking out the best recordings of the Tragic Overture and the Academic Festival Overture. I thought Bernstein, Szell and Solti knew what they were doing with New York, Cleveland and Chicago, respectively, but Thomas and the London Symphony have recorded the finest renditions of these two overtures that you will ever hear. Melodicly, tonality and grace are heard throughout each note, phrase and diminishment. I cried when I first heard these recordings while driving through Chicago. I said to myself, I must have this. I searched the world over and found them here at Amazon.com. Now I listen to them anytime I want and I'm going to share these recordings with my siblings who also know and appreciate great music and great recordings. By the way, I gave away my other CD renditions of these titanic overtures.

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Serenata sinfonica extraordinaria, December 14, 2004

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felipe "classic" (Chile) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brahms: Serenade No. 1 / Tragic, & Academic Festival Overtures (Audio CD)

Brahms me sorprende cada dia, sinfonias soberbias, conciertos sorprendentes, sus hermosas danzas hungaras y ahora descubri (sin mencionar piano sonatas y otras bellisimas piezas)esta serenata Nș1 que podria ser otra sinfonia o quizas un poema sinfonico es grandiosa.
Una gran introduccion nos conduce por scherzos, allegros, un hermosoa adagio y mas scherzos,un menuetto encantador, para finalizar en dos pequeñas piezas (movimientos) grandiosos.
Es una obra diversa, facil de escuchar, llega a momentos de solemnidad y dulzura, de fulgor y luminosidad, es muy entretenida y con una cuota de elegancia.
Se añaden a esta obra la hermosa y nada de tragica Obertura Tragica, en realidad nunca la he encontrado muy de acuerdo con su titulo pero Brahms sabra, junto a esta extraordinaria obra esta su hermana (bueno siempre se acompañan) la Obertura para el Festival Academico ( traduccion libre) que es genial y que no digan que es una obra menor escrita con apuro y esas cosas, es una obertura plena, magnifica, imponente, muy buena.
La Orquesta Sinfonica de Londres suena como ella sabe hacerlo portentosa, bastante sutil, energica y poderosa, vibrante, definitivamente extraordinaria; al final mis halagos y respetos para el joven Michael Tilsson Thomas, que como el mas grande de los veteranos y con la fuerza e impetu de la juventud logra una conduccion soberbia.