“The chemistry is magical. The works may be old warhorses, but the performances are as fresh as daisies.”
Kenneth Walton, Living.Scotsman.com
Living.Scotsman.com, 15th August 2008
CHRISTOPH von Dohnányi is one of that noble strain of mature conductors who can draw an even blend of timelessness and urgency from the Romantic giants, and he does it ravishingly here in two Brahms symphonies with the Philharmonia Orchestra. The chemistry is magical, Dohnányi (conductor for life with the orchestra having served time as principal guest conductor) drawing impassioned warmth from the Fourth Symphony, and a tempered fluidity from the Second. The works may be old warhorses, but the performances are as fresh as daisies.
Kenneth Walton
MusicalCriticism.com, 26th August 2008 **** 4 stars
The first two CDs released by the Philharmonia Orchestra with Signum Classics are likely to be popular with music lovers. They work well on two levels: one can focus on the music or one can sort matters of minor importance while listening to the music in the background. I listened both ways and found the experience rewarding.
These recordings were made during live performances but one wouldn't know except for the applause at the end of each symphony. Schubert's Symphony No. 9 is the performance given on 10 June 2006 in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London; Brahms' Symphony No. 2 was recorded on 28 June 2007 in the Royal Festival Hall and his Symphony No. 4 on 4 February 2007 in the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
In the first movement of the Schubert symphony, I was surprised by Mackerras' initial speed as, although charming and graceful, the opening Andante – introducing the Allegro ma non troppo still in the same movement - felt fast. However, the logic is revealed with the tempo of the fast section: Mackerras maintains the link by keeping the crotchet beat of the Andante as the Alla breve beat of Allegro ma non troppo. Rhythm, vitality and a Viennese mood are present and - on conclusion of the movement - the heroic grand orchestral return of the first statement (initially played by only two horns, piano) of the Andante highlights Mackerras' organic interpretation. Special praise is due to the trombones for their important four-note solo motives.
The second movement provides excellently defined contrasts between march-like dotted rhythms and contrasting lyrical melodic responses. The cellists deliver their themes and motives beautifully.
The third (Scherzo) and last (Finale) movements are spirited but never rough. Coherence is maintained: indeed, this is perhaps the most important feature of this performance. In less capable hands than those of Mackerras, the almost one-hour-long symphony could feel overdrawn and disconnected.
I am puzzled about the programme notes which accompany the Brahms CDs. I checked two sets of scores - Eulenburg and Wiener Philharmonischer Verlag - but the titles of several movements in the programme notes differ from those in the scores. Bearing in mind that the first performance of the Second Symphony was given by the Vienna Philharmonic and that the Fourth Symphony too was in their repertoire soon after the premiere, I am at a loss to understand the discrepancy between the titles in the Wiener Philharmonischer Verlag edition and the programme notes. And, although I understand the necessary economy with text/pages in the CD booklet, I wish we had the names of the orchestra players included. (This omission applies to the Schubert CD booklet too.)
Dohnányi takes a leisurely speed in the first movement of Symphony No. 2. His very slight and tasteful ritenutos between themes/motives allow the music to breathe. The comfortable tempo helps the flute 'accompaniment' of triplet passages over the dolce cantando second theme (played first by the cellos and violas) sound like pearls.
In the second movement the opening cello theme is really espressive, providing an interesting contrast to a more celebral version under Lorin Maazel and a guest principal cellist at the Philharmonia's June 2008 Brahms cycle. Later on the CD the oboe gives a particularly beautiful echo of the first two bars of the cello theme: its expressive intonation without any vibrato is very effective. The beautifully played oboe theme was also of note in the amazingly gracious interpretation of the third movement which is marked as Allegretto grazioso, Quasi Andantino in the music scores I studied but is marked as Scherzo in the CD booklet.
In the first movement of Symphony No. 4 Mackerras might have focused more on the dotted and syncopated rhythms but Dohnanyi's gentlemanly speed gives a noble alternative. The returning theme played on the horns towards the end reminds that Philharmonia horns never seem to crack notes.
The opening horn theme of the second movement is a bit brassy but the second subject theme is beautifully played by the cellos and is aided by gentle first violin decorative counterpoint. The staccato and fortissimo orchestral passage leading to the return of the espressivo second subject is surprisingly warm but still facilitates contrast by virtue of playing the second subject as a beautiful orchestral song.
The last two movements continue with warm sound (even during forzandos) and restrained gentlemanly discipline. Dohnanyi's approach seems less than 'Allegro energico e passionate' (as the title marked in my two scores) but is more than credible for Passagaglia (as titled in the CD booklet). Look out for the restrained and beautifully played flute solo in the interlude and for the solemn and warm trombone passage.
Agnes Kory
International Record Review, November 2008
Puzzlingly, Brahms wrote to his publisher Simrock about Op. 73 that ‘The new symphony is so sad it is unbearable … the score must be printed with a black border’, and went on with a pretence about the orchestra rehearsing in black armbands. Yet Hanslick wrote of ‘warm sunshine’, Brahms’s surgeon friend Theodor Billroth similarly referred to ‘sunlight and cool green shade’, and most performers and listeners have found it a refreshing and above all lyrical work. Was Brahms being entirely satirical, as has been assumed? Though he could distance himself with irony from his own most personal music, it was not characteristic of him to speak quite like that of a new work. A performance such as Christoph von Dohnányi’s suggests there was something in what this many-layered man was saying. A distinct tension exists between the flow of lyrical themes and the extremely tight structure, with the three note alteration of the opening bar recurring all the way through the work, in every movement, binding the music firmly together.
This is a performance elegiac in quality, rather than lyrical. The opening Allegro non troppo is taken steadily and Dohnányi phrases emphatically within the long melodic lines, sometimes anticipates the attack on a chord with a brief catch of breath, and can begin the crescendo into a climax earlier than marked for greater cumulative tension. The long cello melody opening the Adagio is given many eloquent internal stresses rather than expanding freely, and the Scherzo takes on a wistful lilt rather than the familiar cheerful spring through all its different presentations: the end is very touching. In the finale, the broad largamente melody seems more like a tragic statement then one of breadth and simple warmth. None of this goes against the music and what can be found in it, nor trespasses over the bounds of what is marked or implied. It goes to show how many faceted a work of genius can be. If this is an unusual performance of the work, it is a valid and moving one.
The recording, in London’s Festival’s Hall is considerably better that that of the Fourth Symphony, made in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, in which quite a lot of orchestral detail can be obscured in the more fully scored passages. Dohnányi sweeps with a good forward flow into the opening theme, one of Brahms’s most original. The insert note strangely describes it as consisting of four notes. It consists of eight notes of falling thirds, rewritten at different pitches in the key of E minor, with an answer of seven notes of rising thirds in C major: the point is important, as even if the listener does not have to be consciously aware of technicalities, the conductor must be if the structure is to be sound, and one of Dohnányi’s strong characteristics is his sense of structure. It is this which makes his handling of the Passacaglia final so good, with his firm hand on Brahms’s unrelenting hold on the repeating eight bar theme (unrelenting even with the lyrical flute solo, beautifully played here with a touch of the forlorn). In between, the Andante moderato sets off with again the uncertainly of which key its fanfaring is going to be in (E or C), rather severely played here but justifying this with the vehemence of the central section and its answering majestic string melody. The Scherzo , one of Brahms’s gruffest, is suitably hefty and hearty. It all combines into a strong, effective performance, which makes it regrettable that the sound sometimes lets things down. If this is not too much of a consideration, here are two interesting performances of two masterpieces.
John Warrack
The Times - Culture Magazine, 7th September 2008
Recorded live at concerts in the Festival Hall (No 2) and the Queen Elizabeth Hall (No 4) last year, these are thoughtful, aristocratic, refined performances under Dohnanyi, who allows this music its space, yet gives it purpose and shape. The opening movement of the Second Symphony unfolds in an atmosphere of extraordinary unhurried calm, while there are plenty of passages of pure, sweet, mellow indulgence, as in the Fourth’s second movement. There’s also vigour and crisp rhythms where needed, and Dohnanyi and his fine team achieve an apt sense of the momentous in these great works.
Stephen Pettitt
Classic FM Magazine, November 2008
***** 5 stars
These live performances are engrossing beyond the call of duty: Dohnányi puts joy at the centre of the Fourth Symphony and his second penetrates to its core.
Gramophone Magazine, November 2008
A rare coupling here of Brahm’s most gloriously lyrical symphony with the finest of the four, with its exalted finale, a Passacaglia which in essence is almost certainly the greatest set of variations outside the music of Bach. Dohnányi has its full measure, with every detail revealed in a perceptively paced onward flow moving to its exultant apotheosis. Flautist Richard Adeney once told me that the espessivo flute solo which comes about a quarter of the way through the movement is one of the most musically demanding passages in the repertoire and it is played here with just the right balance between intensity and repose. The opening movement, gripping in its lyrical simplicity, is also very successful, and the Andante (with another lovely poco espressivo as the coda approaches) makes a richly expressive counterpart to the exuberantly volatile Allegro giocoso Scherzo. In short, this is a most enjoyable performance and the recording, made in the Queen Elizabeth Hall is well balanced (by Mike Hatch) and satisfying.
Alas, the Second Symphony is a disappointment. The Festival Hall recording is much less satisfactory and the orchestral detail far from vivid. Dohnányi is inclined to lumber in the climaxes of the exposition in the opening movement following an unradiant opening, and after a warm but not very memorable Adagio the Scherzo has limited charm. The work’s highlight is the finale, with a surging flow of energy; and the closing pages carry the day with passionate, enthusiastic aplomb. But it is the Fourth Symphony one remembers here.
