Simone Young is building up quite a catalogue with Oehms Classics,
including plenty of Bruckner, with the Third
and Second
symphonies reviewed here, and some Mahler.
Her Brahms Symphony No. 1 can be found on OC 675. This
is full-fat Brahms, with vibrato in the strings, nice juicy
brass sonorities and a warm balance to the recorded sound. The
Hamburg Laeiszhalle is by no means the most resonant acoustic
on the planet. While one might have wished for a bit more air
around the orchestra on the whole the general effect is colourful
and pleasing.
These are billed as live recordings, though no specific concert
dates are given. There is no perceptible audience noise or applause,
but nor do we get any of that edge-of-the-seat excitement which
live performances can generate. I first discovered Brahms’
symphonies on long-play cassettes in those live recordings with
Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic on Deutsche Grammophon.
At a basic level I soon learned that this is music which is
best appreciated with the volume turned up to decent levels,
but also that it needs a sense of life-or-death grip and intensity
from the first moment beyond silence to the final echo. Moving
on through different recordings and performances, I began to
appreciate the importance of the role which the conductor plays
in these works, in their control over Brahms’ sculptural
sense of tension and release, lyrical line and intense drama.
Bernstein may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but his are
unforgettable recordings for the reasons listed above. Gunter
Wand is another great conductor in these works, his grip deriving
from an unchallengeable sense of detail. Karajan’s 1970s
DG set is also worth having for the sheer luxury of hearing
the Berlin Philharmonic in its prime, the BPO also being Sir
Simon Rattle’s vehicle for a superbly recorded set, big
and generous in every way (see review,
and also here).
There are just too many great recordings to name, and I suspect
that Simone Young’s will rank high amongst the many ‘good’
but a little short of ‘great’. There are certainly
no shortcomings in the performance, with a fine, lush string
sound to express Brahms’ beautiful lines, though I do
find them lacking just a little in weight where it counts at
the beginning of the second movement Adagio non troppo.
Here it should be a sound which spreads warmly through your
veins, but it’s the warmth-giving brushstrokes of the
winds which stand out more in this case. Young’s timings
are not dissimilar to Marin Alsop’s on her fine Naxos
recording, 8.557429. Alsop’s articulation can tend to
draw attention to the ends of phrases a bit too much at times
and she does pull the tempo around more. In general though,
the London Philharmonic sounds that much more expansive - with
a greater sense of conviction than Young, if perhaps not quite
as convincing in interpretative terms as Rattle or Bernstein.
Where Simone Young is at her strongest is in the sense of flow
in the music. The feel of organic development and narrative
progression in the twenty minutes of the first movement is nicely
prepared and executed, with a secure sense of connection from
beginning to end. It’s not the most exciting experience
in the world, but the orchestral shading and structural shaping
is very fine. The Adagio could be a little richer - the
unctuous chocolate tones of the opening missing just that extra
sheen of expansive glory to make it a truly ‘wow’
moment. The winds blend very nicely however, and there are plenty
of gorgeous moments. Young wears her heart on her sleeve in
this movement, and the narrative effect borders on melodrama
at times - one can feel the spirit of Berlioz watching over
this reading. The Allegretto grazioso is nicely turned,
the active and somewhat urgent momentum taking on greater significance
than picking over every detail; not that we’re lacking
in precision either. Young doesn’t over-egg the eloquence
or try to get us onto the dance floor. She lets the notes of
the score speak for themselves and highlights the essential
simplicity of the movement.
The final Allegro con spirito indeed has plenty of spirito,
and is a fittingly dramatic performance. The orchestra is finally
allowed to let rip, though the acoustic does tend to close in
around the quieter passages. Young is alive to Brahms’
restless use of variation. I like the way she gives reprises
of themes and passages a different character in the same way
Brahms always moves things around or tweaks them, never quite
repeating and certainly never dull.
I can’t quite understand why you would place the Tragic
Overture after the Symphony No. 2, both the overture
title and even the key pattern - D minor to D major - seem to
beg the opposite to what we have here. This is a decent enough
Tragic Overture, but doesn’t build up quite the
head of steam the greatest recordings offer. There are plenty
of fine qualities in the playing, but the lack of genuine impact
at climactic moments count against this being a potentially
decisive selling point for the disc as a whole. I would also
argue that the SACD element of the recording need not push you
too hard in the direction of selecting it as a first choice.
The placement of instruments and clarity is sharpened a little
in surround-sound, but the effect is by no means dramatic in
my experience, and I fear the venue has to take major responsibility
for this.
This is a Brahms Symphony No. 2 which is very fine, and
will grow on you with time as it has with me. This is however
one case in which, with a top drawer already full to bursting
with excellence, I would gently guide you towards more stirring
and stimulating accounts. Now, what did I do with those
extra-long-play cassettes?
Dominy Clements
Masterwork Index: Symphony
2
Philharmoniker Hamburg/Simone Young 
SACD
[57:29] 