Search - Johannes Brahms, Arturo Toscanini, NBC Symphony Orchestra :: Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2

Brahmsian magic

Ralph Moore | Bishop's Stortford, UK | 10/17/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As is often the case when re-encountering Toscanini after listening to more modern accounts of Brahms symphonies by Abbado and Karajan, my first thoughts were that he was rather perfunctory and unyielding - but the ear soon adjusts to what he is about and once the second subject of the magical Andante second movement in the First Symphony spirals heavenward on soaring strings, you know that you are safe in the hands of a master Brahms interpreter. Of course it is possible to miss the depth of sound we enjoy in those more recent recordings but the re-mastering has removed all harshness, and Toscanini's insistence upon individual intrumental lines emerging clearly pays dividends; one hears harmonic details and nuances you do not always catch in warmer, stereo sound. There is a kind of febrile joy in Toscanini's music-making which sweeps the listener along; thus the Scherzo is breathless but exhilirating; more "allegro" than a true "allegretto" - but it works. Not that Toscanini cannot plumb the depths; there is a brooding majesty to the Adagio opening of the fourth movement, as a bemired C minor struggles to emerge into the sunlit uplands of C major via those plangent horn and flute solos and the Big Tune is simply glorious, building massively to an explosive release.



The Second Symphony is equally enthralling, and although it has never held the same place in my affections as the First, Toscanini makes me forget that when I am listening to his account, alternately propulsive and tenderly Romantic.



This disc is available absurdly cheaply and thus can and should be in the collection of any one who loves these core repertoire symphonies and wants to experience the Toscanini "buzz".



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