Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68 (1876) [47:07]
Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 (1885) [40:50]
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Mariss Jansons
rec. live: 30-31 October 2007 (Symphony 1); 6, 10 January 2010
(Symphony 4) Herkulessaal, Residenz, Munich, Germany
BR KLASSIK 900112 [47:09 + 40:50]
This disc follows close on the heels of these artists’
recording of the Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3 on BR
Klassik (SACD) 900111. Both Symphonies were recorded in
the splendid acoustic of the Herkulessaal and audience applause
has been retained at the conclusion of each symphony. In May
2011 I experienced at first hand just how empathetic the relationship
is between Jansons and the Bavarian RSO. I eagerly await the
opportunity to attend one of their Munich concerts.
Brahms was aware that by writing symphonies he was encroaching
on the territory ruled by Beethoven. In fact Brahms had written
to Hermann Levi that he could feel the presence of Beethoven
marching behind him. Many Brahms supporters, notably Eduard
Hanslick, were happy to acknowledge the close relationship of
the First Symphony to the music of Beethoven. Hans von
Bülow went further, referring to the C minor symphony as
“Beethoven’s tenth”. Brahms was 43
and at the height of his maturity when his Symphony No. 1
was completed in 1876 although the gestation period had been
protracted, making sketches for the score, it seems, over twenty
years earlier.
The grave and leaden thuds of the threatening drums that open
the first movement Un poco sostenuto - Allegro are implacably
convincing. Impressive too is the beautiful oboe playing of
the rising motif at 2:16. Throughout this movement an assured
Jansons successfully provides generous quantities of beauty,
sadness and even menace. Compared to many rivals it took me
a while to get used to his rather measured pace. One senses
that he is rather holding back his forces. Although Rattle comes
close with the BPO in truth no one I have heard on record has
managed to provide an opening of such raw power. It approaches
that of Klemperer and the Philharmonia. There is a burnished
autumnal countryside feel to the E major Andante sostenuto.
One could imagine walking at the edge of an eerily tranquil
and shadowy forest whilst anticipating the ominous onset of
severe weather. In the midst of such glorious playing I was
struck how much the rising melody for solo violin at 6:05 reminded
me of a section in Brahms’ Violin Concerto. Warm
and magnificently lyrical melodies abound in the short Un
poco allegretto e grazioso right from the swaying opening
measures. Its manner is reminiscent of Mendelssohn. This is
fresh music of the great outdoors and is evocative of cool early
morning dew over a backdrop of wonderful Alpine scenery. Jansons
conveys a sense of intense activity in the closing Adagio
- Allegro non troppo ma con brio as if lying on a verdant
grassy bank gazing up at the tones and shapes of a swiftly changing
sky. I loved the inspiring and highly memorable chorale melody.
The writing really evokes the finale to Beethoven's ‘Choral’
Symphony.
It was in 1884 and 1885 that Brahms worked on his Symphony
No. 4 at the Austrian summer resort of Mürzzuschlag
in the Styrian Alps. Hans von Bülow, who had conducted
a rehearsal of the score enthused that the symphony was “stupendous,
quite original, individual, and rock-like. Incomparable strength
from start to finish.” It’s esteem has endured
and remains for many Brahms’s most popular symphony. Walter
Niemann found an intense degree of sadness in the fourth movement
and wanted to describe the score as Brahms’s ‘Elegiac’
symphony.
A comforting mood of warm serenity and joy suffuses the swaying
opening Allegro non troppo. In splendid performances
such as this I am reminded of the verse, “perfectly
cultivated earth. Honey of dawn, sun in bloom” from
the poem Glimmer by Paul Éluard (1895-1952). Commencing
with a striking horn-call in Jansons’s hands the E major
Andante moderato feels like a dreamscape attaining beguiling
heights of fantasy and grandeur. I love the good humour and
vigour of the Scherzo as Jansons takes the music forward
with majestic strides. In the dark key of E minor the final
movement marked Allegro energico e passionato is a heroic
drama constructed out of a theme and variations in the form
of a chaconne often described as a passacaglia.
Here Brahms introduces contrasts of the broadest imagination
including chorale-style variations featuring horns and trombones.
I especially enjoyed the lovely and moving passage for solo
flute at 3:05-3:56 as well as the following woodwind interplay
and the fierce and defiant hammer-blows.
Jansons and the Bavarian RSO provide highly accomplished performances
even if they are unable to match the pervasive aura of heart-searching
and the strong sense of excitement provided by Klemperer/Philharmonia
and Rattle/BPO. The warm and well balanced sound quality from
live concerts at the Herkulessaal, Munich is impressive.
It has been a ‘rite of passage’ for conductors to
record a complete cycle of the Brahms symphonies and I have
several splendid sets in my collection. My benchmark is the
set of evergreen performances from Otto Klemperer and the Philharmonia.
These are aristocratic, powerful and expressive. They were recorded
with the great producer Walter Legge at his favoured venue:
London’s Kingsway Hall in 1956/57 and can be heard on
EMI Classics 5 62742 2 (c/w ‘Haydn’ Variations;
Alto Rhapsody with Christa Ludwig, mezzo-; Academic Festival
and Tragic Overtures). The digitally re-mastered sound is quite
superb. With impeccable credentials Klemperer is a marvellous
and experienced Brahmsian who made a studio recording of the
Brahms First Symphony with the Staatskapelle Berlin as early
as 1928. I often play the sterling performances of the Symphonies
1-3 conducted by Eugen Jochum with the London Philharmonic Orchestra
from the Kingsway Hall, London in 1956 on EMI Classics 5 69515
2. Re-mastered at the Abbey Road studios, for its age, Jochum’s
sound is excellent too. For an accompanying single version of
the fourth symphony I would add Carlos Kleiber’s commanding
1980 Musikverein, Vienna reading with the Vienna Philharmonic
digitally recorded on Deutsche Grammophon 457 706-2. Of the
modern digital sets I greatly admire the 2008 accounts from
the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle on
EMI
Classics 2672542. They were recorded live in the Philharmonie
at single concert performances with some additional patching.
In my review I described them as, “urgently spontaneous
performances conveying a Romantic power of immense intensity.”
Jansons and his Bavarian Radio colleagues are impressive Brahmsians.
Any serious collector should be happy to hold this set of Brahms’
symphonies.
Michael Cookson
Impressive Brahmsians.