This generous coupling of Brahms’s two concertos for stringed instruments has become relatively common in the age of CD thanks to compilations like the Philips disc of Szeryng and Starker‚ analogue recordings dating from the early 1970s. Modern digital recordings expressly designed for issue in coupling are much rarer‚ the Teldec issue of Kremer and Clemens Hagen being the most notable one.
I can pretty much award any playing of the Brahms Violin Concerto with a 4 to 5 star rating even before I hear the very first note, IF, we have a soloist and conductor such as this combo, Shlomo Mintz and Claudio Abbado. A quick glance at the CD cover and you are struck by at least two things. Number one, these two artists are refreshingly youthful in appearance, and that is nice to see once again, as the camera caught Maestro Abbado before he was struck by stomach cancer, in 2000, which eventually led too his passing in January of this year, 2014, at age 80.
This reissue fills an important gap in that no other recording of Rinaldo is available. Critical response to this cantata has been very mixed over the years, but if detractors of the past had been able to hear Abbado's performance they might be more impressed. To this listener it certainly seems a richly inventive, deeply felt work, and very typical of its composer. When Abbado recorded Rinaldo in 1968 he was near the beginning of his recording career, and there is a fresh, eager response in his conducting. The Ambrosians sing beautifully, the orchestra is excellent and James King is a committed soloist, though some might find his somewhat strenuous delivery rather unattractive.
…There can be little doubt that it is the orchestra as ever, peerless in Brahms that gives this recording its distinctive character. It provides exactly the right fully-fledged symphonic context for Brendel. It also inspires him to realize the solo part with a weightiness of tone and concentration of line that hasn't always been there to complement the natural clarity of his Brahms. Thus, though individual movement timings are virtually identical with those on Brendel's earlier 1973 Amsterdam version on Philips, the scale and musical reach of the performance is considerably extended, as, indeed, is the shrewdness of page after page of musical detailing.
Claudio Abbado and the Vienna Philharmonic the Vienna Philharmonic interpret these dances as passionately as necessary and as as necessary and as intelligently as possible what one may expect:tempera- ment, melting, rhythmic temperament,melodiousness,rhythmic bite,refinement But 'there' is more: a perfect balance between fire and sobriety between fire and sobriety,a tone of great warmth often,a very A tone of great warmth, often, a very lifelike feeling, far from the sentiments of a Barenboim or a of a Barenboim or (sometimes) of a Bernstein.
One of the most grandiose works in the piano literature written by one of the most important composers in the music history meets here the accomplished mastery of one of the foremost pianists before public today. The great Italian virtuoso Maurizio Pollini plays the Piano Concerto No.1 by Brahms with the orchestral support given by Berlin Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado.
This is unbelivably good. I have heard this concerto many times live, on record, on tape, on the radio, and on disc. I have never heard it performed this well. My favorite performance had been Pollini's with Abbado in the late 1970s (maybe early 1980s). This surpasses it in every way, which I would not have believed possible. Pollini's technique is perfect. His and Abbado's interpretation, nuances, shading and dynamics could not be better. The orchestra balances the piano just as Brahms always intended. And then there's the sound quality: as acoustically superb as I have ever heard on any disc. This is truly one of the all-time great classical recordings. Do not miss it.
In 1991 Brendel and the Berliners wee headliners at the Proms in London, wowing the huge Bank Holiday crowd with this Brahms Second; they returned to Berlin and set it down on tape. At the time, Abbado was still considered rather provisional as Karajan's successor, but he has always been a dedicated Brahmsian. It shows in the smooth, large-scaled, confident phrasing, and the plushness of the orchestra's sound in the latter days of Karajan's long reign remains.
One of Brahms' earliest musical jobs (besides playing piano in whorehouses) was directing a choral society. This introduced him to the music of the Renaissance and the Baroque, which sparked his antiquarian enthusiasms, in particular his first-hand encounters with the choral music of Bach. Choral music became an important part of Brahms' output – to his art, to his career (Ein deutsches Requiem propelled him to European notice), and to his income. Brahms may have directed much of his choral music to the then-lucrative amateur market, but he also produced plenty for crack choirs and without much reasonable hope for financial reward – again, Ein deutsches Requiem a good example. Like the Requiem, some of these works even became popular.