Brahms: The Symphonies [Box set]

Amid the enthusiastic gush that greeted Brahms's earliest compositions was the hope expressed that he would `touch with his magic wand the massed forces of orchestra and chorus'. As soon as he did so, of course, his orchestral scoring was heavily criticised and likened to Schumann's. This strange perception survived even into the latter half of the 20th century. If it is not yet fully extinct, Rattle's set of the symphonies ought to finish it off for good.

If you start with symphony #1 (a very reasonable place to start) you may feel some misgivings about the recorded sound. It makes a big boomy noise, which of course is how Brahms wrote that opening sequence. However as the set progressed what I found to my relief was that despite the fullness of the tone I was hearing an exceptional amount of the elaborate detail of which these symphonies contain more than any others. Not only that, I was thrilled time after time at the beauty of the orchestral effects, credit going of course to this great orchestra and this great conductor but above all to the great master of the orchestra who conceived them in the first place. I heard the bassoon's counter-melody at the start of the adagio of #2 more clearly than I usually do, and that is important because for once Brahms does not treat it in double counterpoint (treble and bass inverted) with the main melody. I heard the same instrument at one point in #3 where I had never previously heard it at all, and above all I heard some wonderful horn sound. All four symphonies are full of Wunderhorn stuff, so I shall just highlight the trickiest effect of all, the start of #2 played without hiccups or gulps; and also the sublime ringing chime through softly lit clouds in the introduction to the finale of #1.

Tempi will be a matter of taste. Rattle does not take any unusual speeds, but he inclines slightly to the slow side. This can create an effect of heftiness at times, deliberate I'm sure - this composer cast himself as the custodian and repository of the German classical tradition, and a little stolidity in big chords may be all part of that idiom. My own preference diverges from Rattle's mainly in the respective first movements of #1 and #4. Levine in #1 and Toscanini in #4 manage to be weighty without being heavy through their brisk tempi, and I remain of this way of thinking while admiring Rattle.

However the sheer quality of this recording scores heavily in Rattle's favour even where I know older interpretations that I like equally well, notably Monteux, Toscanini and Dorati in #2. Rattle even knocks my recently elevated favourite in #3, namely Cantelli's wonderful account lately come to my collection, off its pedestal entirely on grounds of sound quality. The general concept is not much different, the tempi are not miles apart either although the two maestri's respective beats are very unlike indeed, I would not like to be without either, but Rattle 2009 has to be my new top choice.

I hope such a summary assessment gives any readers some indication of how well this set may correspond with their own values and preferences. Both where Rattle reinforces my own ideas and where he does not, I'm sure of one thing - he has the sensibility, the insight and the intellectual stature to realise these towering masterpieces fully for us in performance. I find in abundance here the quality that I admire most of all - this director's touch is unique and his vision has a real sense of magic about it.

I have loved these 4 Brahms symphonies for more than 70 years and this recording by the Berliner Philharmoniker with Simon Rattle at the helm,
is a beauty. Rattle captures all the grandeur, warmth and passion that every bar contains and the 4th symphony springs to life like I have never
heard before. If you love these works, as I do, you will be thrilled by these performances.

In one of the reviews below I read that Rattle's second symphony reminded the reviewer of "a forest of those new artificial trees which scientists hope will save the planet" - I thought, 'what a clever thing to say, I know exactly what they mean', even though I hadn't heard the recording. But when I actually heard the Brahms' 2nd in this set, I was astonished. It was so exquisite I simply couldn't believe it. I have never heard an orchestra play anything, let alone a Brahms symphony, with such cohesion. There are multiple rhythms being constantly moved up and over each other in all these works here by Rattle with such astounding skill, and at no point does one carriage every bump another as these masterpieces move across their immense terrain.

I have many Brahms symphony sets, the M&A Furtwängler, two Karajan's (plus a live rec.), Klemperer, some Walter, Sanderling, Celibidache, Carlos Kleiber's 4th, but overall, this set just blows me away in so many ways that the others can't. For instance, there is something both so old and so new about this new set by Rattle. It has a romance to it, which to be heard in this quality digital sound almost seems peculiar, and yet it doesn't at all sound like the other sets I own at all, it sounds distinctly like Rattle's recorded something which hasn't been done before.

Symphony 1 builds and builds until an immense finale.
Symphony 2 exemplifies perfectly both what the immense Berlin Phil can do these days as well as how much depth Rattle can give to the "Brahms sound". This is simply the best recording I've heard of this symphony, I like it even better than Bruno Walter's highly characterful recording. Rattle gives a 'roundness' to the sound and pacing which is somehow able to accentuate all the pastoral, celebratory, nostalgic, and fearfully manic qualities of this symphony.
Symphony 3 is simply perfectly played. But what sets it out as an achievement is its internal balance across the movements. Because of this, this rather impervious symphony opens up to the listener much more than in other recordings as one about Brahms and his emotional and intellectual relationship to music. This must be something he learnt from Brendel, whose internal clarity illuminates many dense piano sonatas.
Symphony 4 is probably the pick of the bunch. This recording reminds me of Otto Klemperer's famous account with its misty cobweb sound. There is an organ-like sound to much of the surface of the orchestra's string and brass, especially at the climax of the first movement. I have never heard anything like it, it ascends in deep continual breaths. The Andante moderato has a wide and particularly moulded harmony which pretty much all other recordings are missing; there's a sad yearning here which comes from more than the melody. The finale is a perverse torn grimace, as it should be which, and unlike Furtwängler's December '43 account, doesn't disintegrate because of its intensity.

Probably many people who hear these recordings will say "Some good, some bad, meh!" Many people were and still are deaf to the unique and profound achievements of Herbert von Karajan. Many will not perceive the crystal etchings adorning these recordings. They will hear a contrived, middle-brow, 21st century romantic mishmash by a precocious show-off who thinks he can do anything because he's always saying clever things to the media. Those people will, as they most likely did with Karajan, miss the greatest show on Earth.