Customer Reviews

Leonard Bernstein Conducts Brahms (Collectors Edition) [Box Set]

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

 

 

Leonard Bernstein has been praised and condemned by musical critics who have examined his unique, distinctive style of conducting. Along with Herbert von Karajan, Bernstein was probably among the two finest music directors of his generation; critics have thoroughly compared and contrasted Bernstein's emotional approach with Karajan's stern, almost business-like approach to conducting. Regardless of whether or not you may love Bernstein's style of conducting, he is still revered and loved by his harshest critics, the musicians who enjoyed playing for him as members of some of the world's greatest symphony orchestras. For example, I had the pleasure of meeting one of the Vienna Philharmonic's concertmasters last March here in New York City, hearing his lavish praise of Bernstein as both a musician and person. He still regarded Bernstein as one of his favorite conductors, viewing their concerts as among the highlights in his own noteworthy career as solo violinist and concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

The enthusiasm and admiration which the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra had for its favorite American conductor is present in this splendid Deutsche Grammophon collection which has been compiled recently from the original digital recordings made during live concerts held in the early 1980s. Among these are one of my favorite recordings of the Brahms 2nd Symphony, which is a lush, lovely reading of Brahms' most pastoral symphony, and a valid interpretation inspite of Bernstein's tendency for slower tempi. Similarly, the other three symphony recordings are splendid in their own right, with the brooding 1st Symphony a mesmerizing, exciting performance. I strongly recomend this CD collection as a fine example of Bernstein still conducting at the height of his artistic powers, demonstrating the excellent collaboration between the conductor and his favorite European orchestra. Without question, this remains one of the best Brahms symphony cycles available to discerning collectors and novices of classical music alike.

This boxed set of Bernstein conducting Brahms allows collectors to buy his Viennese recordings of the symphonies at a budget price. Lenny coaxes peerless sounds from the orchestra and draws from them impassioned performances of these masterworks. I know some of you might quibble about mannered tempi, especially in the Third, but his renditions are still valid in their own right.

This boxed set also contains the two overtures and the Haydn Variations, all performed in ravishing performances. It also contains the Violin and Double Concertos with Gidon Kremer and Mischa Maisky. The one gripe - and I fear it's a serious one - is that Kremer made use of a renegade cadenza in the Brahms concerto by playing a Reger prelude rather than the Joachim cadenza. It hurts to think that he made use of such a cadenza, because it promotes an unbecoming clash of styles. Unfortunately, these three minutes of cadenza have ruined all the 38 minutes of the violin concerto.

I also regret that this boxed set does not contain the two Piano Concertos with Krystian Zimerman. I know that Zimerman doesn't feel satisfied with any of his early recordings any more, but these two recordings really present an introspective side to these concertos. I also regret that this CD set doesn't contain Lenny's introductions to each work, as included on the forthcoming DVD releases of this Brahms cycle. Otherwise it would have been a really complete cycle and I would have given it a full rating.

In short, it's a fine cycle, except that it doesn't contain everything related to Lenny's digital recordings of Brahms. These omissions seem glaring, but yet the performances are swell and worth considering at this price.

I just had to weigh in on this set - several weeks after I acquired it - because of a recent listening to the Third Symphony over the radio. I had only once played the discs I purchased and did not know which recording was being used on air. And from the start, its sublime beauty had me wishing for a copy if I didn't already have it. To my financial relief, a check of the station's playlist the next morning revealed the Bernstein/VPO! I've since replayed 2 and 3, so I confine my comments to them. At just under 42 minutes, the Third SHOULD be considered too long, and ditto the Second at over 48 minutes - but neither is the case under Lenny's baton. The warmth and spaciousness of both middle symphonies are given full expression in this "autumnal" presentation. They simply feel as wonderful as they sound, and could have even been longer!

Brahms has always been one of my favourite composers and Bernstein and the Vienna PO have done an excellent interpretation of all his Symphonies and especially of the Violin and Double Concerti. The sound quality for a live recording is also quite okay and this is especially so of the last disc which contains the Concerti.

The packaging of a cardboard box which holds the paper sleeves which house the 5 discs is also nice to behold. You also get a nice 16-page booklet with an essay on Brahms written by Bernstein himself.

I was amused to also discover that when it comes to Brahms' symphonies, it appears the 3rd movements are charms when it comes to "borrowing" the melodies for pop/rock tunes too. The progressive rock band, Yes, have openly used the 3rd movement of the 4th one as one of the tracks on their wildly successful album, "Fragile" while if you listen closely to the one from the 3rd Symphony, you'll realise that Santana totally ripped off the melody for the second track on his "Supernatural" album, "Love of My Life" with Dave Matthews. At least Yes had the decency to give the credit to Brahms when they did it though.

This box set though comes highly recommended.

In general I like Bernstein as a conductor and I love him as a composer. But he gets so full of himself somethimes. Espesially in his Mahler and Brahms recordings. I own the DVD set as well and I can not understand why Maestro Bernstein blocks and holds the flow of the music almost all the time. The orchestra does not seem or sound convinced as well. The strings are not together many times and I believe it is all Maestro Bernstein's fault. There are many better alternatives out there like Abbado/BPO, Giulini/VPO, Karajan/BPO, Eschenbach/HSO, Solti/CSO and many others.

It's a thing with a bunch of conductors - Karajan did it, Eschenbach does it... but playing a work incredibly slowly doesn't really make the piece any better or more enjoyable.
I wonder why Bernstein chose to do that - I have his recordings of the Beethoven symphonies and Schumann's as well, and in none of those does he stoop to this level of lethargy.
I literally checked my CD player to see if it was spinning too slowly the first time I put in the 3rd symphony - it's so slow it sounds flat, as though you had your thumb on the record player!
The recordings of the violin concerto and duo concerto are at a reasonable speed, and Kremer's playing on the former is wonderful, but overall I'm disappointed with this set.

Bernstein got it totally wrong here in my view. The tempo is too slow which leads to a repressed feeling throughout that can even make the sanest person feel almost claustrophobic. So, this is just bad. Those who like this must be blind admirers of Bernstein who was of course a great conductor although this time he got it all wrong. There is nothing more to say here except sorry to those who get upset with me for telling the truth..

I just heard the third movement on Internet radio and it is just about perfect. No tempo issues, lines flowing smoothly from instrument to instrument. It's the most expressive I've ever heard. Just heartbreakingly beautiful.

I'm buying it today. This is the Brahms interpretation I want my kids to grow up listening to.