As far as I am aware,
this is the first issue of these performances
on CD. Masur’s Beethoven and Mendelssohn
cycles have been available in CD format
for many years, but it has taken until
now for these versions to be made available
to the collector. The most interesting
feature of these Australian-produced
discs (all four symphonies have been
made available on three discs), is the
quality of the recordings. On LP, I
remember the performances being let
down by poor transfers. What we have
here are excellent sound quality plus
interpretations which, whilst not in
the absolute front rank, are excellent,
plus the mellow Brahmsian sound of the
Leipzig Gewandhaus all at the incredibly
low price of £3.70 plus postage.
As you might expect
from these 1970s recordings, first movement
repeats are missing, but as most performances,
even today, are like this, there is
not much to be missed. What is notable
from those 1977 sessions is the absolute
rightness of the sound of the symphonies,
and of other Brahms symphonic works.
Apparently, Universal
allows each of its marketing managers
in each of the geographical sectors,
to choose repertoire for their releases
on Eloquence. Cyrus Meher-Homji’s good
artistic and commercial judgement is
exemplary and the company should take
note of his activities in Australia.
Whilst in Europe, the same recordings
are endlessly re-cycled on different
labels, the Australian Eloquence catalogue
features some outstanding classics which
otherwise have never seen the light
of day.
In addition, since
the delivery service is outstanding
- better than most UK mail order organisations
- there is no reason to delay making
up an order. I placed an order on Thursday,
and the discs were delivered to my front
door exactly one week later. Even if
you allocate the postage costs over
the discs, they still are no dearer
than a domestic equivalents. The only
word of caution is to limit the value
of the discs you order; if the total
value is somewhat over £20.00, H.M.
Customs, on arrival in the UK will wipe
out any possible savings by adding import
duty. Beware.
Back to the present
release: Masur in his earlier years
was more sprightly than he is with the
New York Philharmonic. The slight weariness
displayed by the Teldec performances
is missing with these low price alternatives.
Just think ... you can have the whole
cycle for the price of one of the full
price alternatives. In addition the
East German (as it was then) instrumental
timbres are extremely attractive, especially
the sound of the oboe, so important
in this symphony.
Brahms had little difficulty
in writing the Variations on a Theme
of Haydn, and Masur and his band have
similarly absolutely no trouble in making
the most of Brahms’ inspiration. There
are no surprises in tempo or balance,
just a good solid German approach to
the playing. Universal are to be congratulated
for making this cycle of Brahms’ orchestral
works available.
I recommend this disc
unreservedly, both from performance
and recording quality points of view.
If you send for the Eloquence catalogue
or visit the supplier’s internet site,
you will be absolutely delighted with
the range. It is to be hoped that the
UK parent might also see the light and
make more of the absolute treasure trove.
They still have so many long unavailable
recordings clamouring for reissue.
I am pleased to plug
this label and its imaginative director
for making such repertoire available
John Phillips
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra/Kurt Masur. 
