Brahms:The Violin and Viola Sonatas

Johannes Brahms (Composer), Daniel Barenboim (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Daniel Barenboim
• Composer: Johannes Brahms
• Audio CD (July 14, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B000009CMP
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,713 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available.
Genre: Classical Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 14-JUL-1998

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, June 11, 2001

By 

Itamar Ronen (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Brahms:The Violin and Viola Sonatas (Audio CD)

Chamber music is a tricky thing, particularly for musicians with a highly personal musical style. How do you share a composition with other player(s) without compromising what you want to do with the piece? In intrinsically balanced compositions, such as string quartets, the problem seems to be more manageable. In sonatas for instrument and piano, however, the issue is much more tangible. The challenge can be tackled in various ways: the Perlman/Ashkenazy approach is one of perfect matching of interpretaion, which leads to a very smooth and "clean" result. The Zukerman/Barenboim approach is more liberal. The phrasing of the two is not identical, Barenboim sometimes brings things "out" that Zukerman does not, etc. The end result is gritty (partly also because of the wonderful "earthliness" of Zukerman's tone) dramatic and highly poetic, not in a sweet way. This is a magical performance. It perhaps takes a little while to get used to this higly individual approach (I was very used to the Perlman/Ashkenazy couple, in particular in their stellar Beethoven set, so I had to adjust a little...) but what can I say - I became addicted...

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars this is THE BRAHMS VIOLIN SONATAS COLLECTION, March 24, 2001

By 

Benjamin Bolival (The Peninsula of the Bay Area) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Brahms:The Violin and Viola Sonatas (Audio CD)

If Franks and Serkin get a 5-star rating for their Brahms Violin Sonata performance, Zukerman and Barenboim get a 6-star! I own both cds and the Zukerman/Barenboim version is more solid in sound and rendered with more emotion than the Franks/Serkin version. Besides, with the Zukerman/Barenboim version you get more Brahms for your money. A no-brainer, a must for any Brahms collector !

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There is better fare available for both the viola and violin sonatas, May 30, 2008

By 

Joey Joe Joe Jr. Shabadoo (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brahms:The Violin and Viola Sonatas (Audio CD)

***3 1/2 stars***

These are decent performances that would serve as an acceptable introduction to these works, but there are far better alternatives available. One problem here is that Barenboim and Zukerman have divergent views of how these pieces should be played, and as a result the two can't seem to decide on phrasing. The results are choppy and somewhat inconsistent. I'd personally recommend looking at other alternatives. For the violin sonatas, excellent recordings by Suk/Katchen and Schneiderhan/Seeman are far superior to these. For the viola sonatas, either Hagen/Serkin or Bashmet/Muntian are preferable.

The sound here is fine, although a bit close and bright as was characteristic of late 70s DG analog. DG used its Original Image processing to clean the sound up, so it sounds better now than it ever has before, although still not top flight. The booklet is good, providing good detail on the works and composer in multiple languages.

In sum, unless you are on a budget and need all of the violin and viola sonatas in one issue, I'd suggest you look elsewhere. Barenboim and Zukerman are fine artists, but this isn't a successful pairing, and with better options available should not be a first, second or even third choice.