Search - Johannes Brahms, Max Reger, Karl Böhm :: Brahms: Sinfonie Nr. 2 D-dur op. 73

Reger question from Michael Richman's review...

R. Grames | Florissant, MO USA | 03/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is the same 1956 recording issued with the Beethoven Missa Solemnis in The Originals series. Nice performance, but unnecessary duplication. Have to watch DG more than we used to."

Bohm's Brilliant Brahms

Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 12/26/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am beginning to fall in love with DG's new "Musik...Sprache der Welt" series. Sure a few of the titles feature selections that have already been or continue to be available on other CDs (see my reviews of the Schubert Markevitch and Schumann Furtwangler titles), but the vast majority of these performances have been languishing in the vaults for far too long. Of course, the fact that these discs sell at mid-price when comparable classic historical performances from the EMI and Decca archives sell on labels like Testament for full-price, makes this series all the more worthwhile.



Conductor Karl Bohm recorded one of the great Brahms Symphony Cycles of all-time in the mid-1970s with the Vienna Philharmonic (available in the DG Collectors Edition Box Set series), but this disc features a 1956 mono account of the 2nd Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic. This earlier performance easily matches the latter account despite its mono sound, as Bohm, even early on in his career, shows mastery in revealing Brahms' buried aural treasures. The disc concludes with Reger's "Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Mozart" recorded a few days after the Brahms 2nd and also in mono. A disc in the DG Originals series of Bohm performing Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis" also includes this Reger piece, but as I do not own that title, I'm not sure if it is a stereo remake or the very same performance featured on this CD. In any event, it is a delightful work and I am surprised more conductors haven't recorded it -- my only other account is by Scherchen on CPO.



In conclusion, I would like to commend DG/Universal on producing another fine classical music series in "Musik...Sprache der Welt." Thanks for reminding us that there are still some great recordings that need to be reissued, and that we shouldn't have to pay a small fortune to hear them."

Bohm in best form

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 01/22/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can't add much to Michael Richman's positive review, except to say that even non-fans of Karl Bohm (of which I'm one) can't help but be impressed by the fluidity of this Brahms Second performance as well as its passion. Usualy Bohm's beat feels too disciplined, but not here. I wouldn't say that 1956 is early in his career as MR notes -- the conductor was 62 -- and it must be said that DG's mono recording is unusually tight and boxy. Much better engineering was coming out of almost every other record company. In wider-ranging sound the intensity of Bohm's interpretation would have carried even more impact -- his view of the Brahms Second is more dramatic than pastorl.



The Reger Mozart Variations are more than a fill-up. This is Reger's most popular work and has received more than 16 modern recordings, even though it rarely appears on American concert programs. It nicely fuses traditonalism with a bit of modern daring in several of the variations. Ultimately, Reger and comperes like busoni and Pfitzner made the wrong bet on where modernism was going, but even if this music looks more toward Brahms than Schoenberg, it's a lovely work."