Customer Reviews

Brahms: Symphony No. 1; Haydn Variations; Academic Festival Overture

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As someone who has only recently begun seriously collecting classical CDs, the Bruno Walter Edition has been a revelation. Walter, at the end of his career, set out to record his signature pieces for posterity in what was then the new technology of stereo. And unlike von Karajan, who rushed to record his repertoire at the dawn of the video and digital era to often-mixed results, every Walter performance I have encountered is absolutely brilliant. This recording of Brahms' 1st Symphony, and his whole stereo Brahms Symphony Cycle for that matter, is no exception. There are other Brahms Cycles out there that are equally good -- most notably those by Szell, Kertesz, Klemperer, and Bohm -- but none of them are superior to these accounts. Also, I should note that since making a point of acquiring all of the Bruno Walter Edition titles earlier this year, I have witnessed several of them falling prey to the deletion axe. So order the Bruno Walter Edition titles quickly, because these recordings made during the twilight of Walter's career, seem to be in the twilight of their own life as well.

I have listened to many recordings of Brahms 1st. I have also read extensively the reviews others have given on every Brahms 1st available on Amazon. Along with Klemperer's Brahms 1st, Walter's Brahms 1st is the one to own. The sound is incredible. The performance is closely-miked with deep rich bass. (a conductor's perspective). But, I like it that way. This performance draws you in. I can listen to this performance over and over without tiring. Do not get confused with the multitude of choices out there on which performance of Brahms 1st to get, I have done the searching and listening, get this Brahms 1st and you will not be disappointed.

Hearing once again Bruno Walter's Brahms First re-connects me with what is one of the outstanding realizations of this glorious symphony. In this singing, powerfully expressive account, the conductor's accents and shaping of detail usher into bold relief the music's sublime character. In the first movement, he is especially effective at characterizing the music's underlying tension. The brilliantly lit, poignant tones of the second movement are presented in as musical a manner one could wish for. The less intense and more freely flowing third movement nicely benefits also from the conductor's special touch. In the early portion of the final movement, Walter elicits a marvelously atmospheric effect from the clarion call of the broad, noble sounding horn that follows the dark, fleeting clouds. Then, from the famous stately tune on, he neither loses sight of the music's singing line nor its surging intensity. I only wish he would have proceeded at a quicker pace following the spot I refer to as the powerful churning of the gears toward the close. Nevertheless, the final chords are most convincing. Along with Klemperer/Philharmonia, Van Beinum/Amsterdam Concertgebouw(his 1958 stereo recording)and also Walter's mono NY Philharmonic version this is a Brahms First for the ages....Walter's Academic Festival Overture brims with color, joyousness and grandiosity. It has never been bettered. The Variations on a Theme of Haydn also benefits greatly from his affectionate and poetic approach. This cd is a tribute to one of the greatest lovers and interpreters of the music of Brahms.

What a joy to see this old LP recording from the late 1950s re-mastered by Sony to take the best of the Columbia recording and make it better. Few can make Brahms ring so true as Bruno Walter could and this recording, made in Los Angeles with the 'Coumbia Symphony Orchestra' shows off the maestro to great advantage. Bruno Walter (September 15, 1876 - February 17, 1962) was in the autumn years of his life when he made this recording and that aura of time and countless performances of these works gratefully remains captured here.

Walter was so immersed in his music that his soul was evident in every phrase. This is a Brahms first of great majesty. His tempi are a bit on the slow end of the spectrum , but that serve only to make his climaxes more thrilling. The 'Haydn Variations' are so well conceived that they sound completely thought through, as though in conversation with Brahms, and the 'Academic Festival Overture' has both the joy and the pomp of the 'Gaudeamus Igitur' the work holds. Of very special note, there is in Los Angeles a 'happening' over the nest weeks. Gustavo Dudamel has programmed a survey called 'Brahms Unbound' and opened the first concert in this in depth look at the works of Brahms with both the Academic Festival Overture and the Symphony No. 1. Critics and audiences somehow always expect performances of Brahms to be safest in the hands of elder conductors, by Dudamel unveiled a propinquity for Brahms that bodes very well indeed for the fat that here may be our next great Brahms conductor. Returning to this CD of Bruno Walter and having just heard Dudamel on the podium with the Los Angeles Philharmonic provides a great resurgence in the appreciation of the genius of Johannes Brahms. Grady Harp, May 11

I usually leave reviews of these masterworks to the more long-winded writers here. And I agree with most of the above reviews - but this really is one of my favorite recordings in all of classical music. The entire Walter set too. I have at least 5 or 6 great versions of this - but somehow Walter's storytelling just beats them all(even with a pick-up orchestra - a very good one though). And the sound is fine. Too bad Furtwangler didn't make it to the more modern recording era - I love his live recordings of Brahms - but the sound is for die-hards only.

Walter is a legendary conductor, and these recordings have excellent sound quality and presence. The CD is nearly filled with three "Classical Canon" pieces. You get all this for $10. Highly recommended, for both serious collectors and anyone with even a passing interest in Classical Music.

Sony has recently released the earlier Brahms cycle that Bruno Walter recorded with the New York Philharmonic in 1951 and 1953. Excellently re-mastered, this rare, earlier version is in every way superior (see my review of the mono version). By comparison, this stereo re-make actually sounds tired and sluggish and the orchestral playing cannot compare to the gorgeous sound of the New York Philharmonic. Just compare the second movement andante (or the finale of the fourth movement) of the First Symphony and you will know immediately that good as the stereo version is, the earlier mono version is truly great.

After comparing different versions of the Academic Festival Overture, Bruno Walter's rendition is the best. Bright, with a noticible faster tempo than other versions, yet still dynamic and powerful in all the right places.

First, these are three of my favorites, and Brahms is my favorite composer. Brahms was deeply concerned that he followed Beethoven. He needed no concern. These are masterpieces. Their performance by Bruno Walter and the Columbia Symphony is also masterful. The technology for the initial recording is dated, the remastering was done with great care. The result is a really great recording.

The Bruno Walter version of Brahms" First symphony " completes my collection of all four Brahms wrote and includes Variations on a Theme of Haydn. I find the first portion of the Variations includes St. Anthony's chorale that sets me humming all day. The Academic Festival overture is included as well and the reasonable price makes this album a bargain. The First symphony contains a finale with a hymn-like theme which makes it my most played album of the four Brahmsian symphonies.