Bruno Walter's Earlier (& Better) Brahms Cycle
T. Beers | Arlington, Virginia United States | 11/02/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Bruno Walter, Mahler's great friend and protege, was particularly known for his performances of Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms. He recorded complete sets of the Beethoven and Brahms symphonies in stereo near the end of his long life (1876-1962), and those famous recordings are widely available on Sony Classics. So why pay attention to his early 1950s, monophonic Brahms recordings made available by French Sony? Simple: Walter in his 70s was a more vibrant conductor than he was a decade later when the stereo recordings were made. In fact, Walter expressed regret that stereo technology required him to re-record his Brahms cycle because he judged the monophonic set to be one of his most successful recordings and a real tribute to the excellence of the New York Philharmonic. (The stereo remakes were recorded after Walter retired to California and used the "Columbia Symphony," a very good Los Angeles-based pick-up orchestra comprised mostly of players drawn from the Hollywood film studios.) Don't get me wrong, I've always loved Bruno Walter's stereo Brahms recordings. Although a bit waywardly paced now and then, they very beautifully convey the gentle warmth and genuine sentiment the conductor was famous for. But the monophonic recordings present that warmth along with real fire and drama, something the young Bruno Walter was also noted for. The performance of the First Symphony in particular will surprise those people who only know the stereo version: rough, craggy and incomparably intense, it is one of the great statements of this overwhelming music. French Sony's CDs were processed directly from the Columbia master tapes and sound very fine; I don't think they'll disappoint any listener whose commitment first and foremost is to hearing great performances of great music. And note that the other two Brahms symphonies are available on a companion French Sony CD, but avoid the alternative two-CD set of all four on a non-Sony Italian label: although it offers the same performances, the Italian set appears to have been processed from Lp copies of the master tapes and sound foggy, distorted and very low-fi. Final note: Sony/U.K.apparently has released in Britain a two CD set of these performances that is also drawn from the master tapes. I have not yet seen this set listed at Amazon in the US."
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1