Product Details

• Format: Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, Italian
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
• DVD Release Date: March 11, 2008
• Run Time: 161 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000XVT7SM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #28,167 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #37 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Symphonies > Romantic
  • #72 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Romantic (c.1820-1910) > Forms & Genres

Editorial Reviews

BRAHMS:SYMPHONIES NOS 1-4 - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another superb Brahms DVD set from DGG, March 21, 2008

By 

Mike Birman (Brooklyn, New York USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Brahms: The Symphonies [DVD Video] (DVD)

I loved the Brahms symphonies conducted by Leonard Bernstein that were released several months ago on DVD by DGG. In my review, I noted that Bernstein used extremely broad tempos, often making Brahms sound more like Mahler. One gets used to those Adagio speed slow movements because Bernstein makes them sound so right, wringing pure emotion from them as only he could. Now DGG offers us the anti-Bernstein in Herbert von Karajan's splendid set of Brahms symphonies recorded in 1973. Karajan conducts them with eyes closed, often intently enraptured by the music, smiling occasionally when a passage or solo sounds just right to his ear. He conducts Brahms with a greater sense of urgency than does Bernstein: the First symphony is 11 minutes shorter as conducted by Karajan! Nothing is rushed but there is what can only be described as emotional compression, an intensity of expression that sounds quicker than Bernstein's performances.

By comparing these different visions of Brahm's great symphonies, one is confronted by the rather stark differences between these two great conductors. Bernstein inhabits these symphonies as a sort of surrogate composer, making them his own, adopting a very personal mode of expression, channeling Brahms as if the symphonies were part of a musical seance on a rainy afternoon. Karajan conducts them as if he were a spectator at a concert and this was how he most enjoyed hearing them played. This emotional distancing makes sense, in fact it is most helpful, because Brahms is a Romantic composer by way of temporal contingency and probably not by inclination. In fact, Brahms is a profoundly Classical composer, his closest antecedent being Mozart, with whom Brahms shares a deep expressive ambiguity and a disinclination to wallow in strong emotional outbursts.

Karajan conducts Brahms as if he were conducting Mozart. In the process, he elicits great beauty from the Berlin Philharmonic, their slow movements sounding autumnal and burnished by sadness, heartbreaking but never self-indulgent. The Second symphony is profound and tragic, yet never yielding its mellow loveliness. The Third symphony is more ephemeral, quicksilver and slightly elfin in quality. The Fourth symphony wraps itself in the weightiness of the Bach derived eight bar passacaglia, whose variations construct the final movement. All the while, Brahms is looking back at a vanished world, the symphony's musical notes sounding like the soft whisper of ghosts. These are powerfully atmospheric performances, with lovely orchestral colors and a paradoxically calm yet urgent expressiveness. This was von Karajan at the height of his powers.

The two DVDs last for 161 minutes. The picture is digitally remastered, the sound in PCM stereo and DTS 5.1 crisp and clear. The films are quite well done, utilizing concert footage as well as discrete studio closeups. Karajan's Brahms performances are exemplary and are most strongly recommended.

Mike Birman

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling Brahms, April 28, 2008

By 

Mr. Peter M. Donnelly "peterd135" (West Hobart, Tasmania, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Brahms: The Symphonies [DVD Video] (DVD)

Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic in Brahms was always special. Even his final years produced an excellent recording of the Violin Concerto with his protege Ann Sophie Mutter. These performances from the 1970s provide that unique dark and deep Berlin string sound and brilliant golden brass so suited to bringing out the best in this composer's unique sound world. The performances are classically direct with plenty of passion. Karajan always excelled in Nos 1 and 2. He, like many conductors including Toscanini, had difficulty in getting No 3 just right. This performance is certainly his best attempt. No 4 is also excellent.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION, February 13, 2009

By 

Nelson Nisenbaum - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Brahms: The Symphonies [DVD Video] (DVD)

This box contains everything you need to know about BRAHMS'S Symphonies and about excellence on interpretation. Besides the fact that Karajan's conducting technique is not a full example of ellegance on this matter, the result is astonishing, at least, and give us clearly the idea of the "german" way to play Brahms. Berlin Phil. does the rest, giving us a full experience of a perfect orchestra.