From the very first moment, the atmosphere seems to glow in Beethoven's last sonata for violoncello, with which Antoaneta Emanuilova and Endri Nini open their new GENUIN CD Momentum. Momentum stands for the potency of the ideal moment, its inherent dynamism, and its independence from temporal processes. In addition to Beethoven, the two award-winning musicians perform Brahms' Cello Sonata in D major and Schumann's Adagio and Allegro, works of great inner fervour that demand the attention of listeners and musicians alike at every moment and yet reward this effort many times over with incredible inner richness. Emanuilova and Nini play the three late works, which are by no means serene, with crackling energy.
The bold, beautiful symphonies of Johannes Brahms are the towering triumphs of his compositional legacy-yet no serious Brahms collection is complete without many of the other famous works you'll find in this 5-CD set. Along with the four symphonies, you'll hear Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor; Variations on a Theme of Haydn for Orchestra in B Flat Major (St. Anthony Variations); Piano Concerto No. 2 in B Flat Major; Tragic Overture in D Minor; Violin Concerto in D Major; Concerto for Violin, Concerto and Orchestra in A Minor "Double" , and more!
These London Symphony Orchestra recordings were made at the Barbican in London in 2003 and 2004. The set includes not only the four Brahms symphonies but also the Tragic Overture, Op. 81, the Double Concerto in A minor, Op. 102, and the Serenade No. 2 in A major, Op. 16. It adds up to more than four hours of music, but one can make a strong case for this as the Brahms set to own for those who want just one, especially for those who aren't concerned with audio quality. There is much to sink one's teeth into here – over a lifetime.
Bernard Haitink conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Brahms’s great orchestral works, including the complete symphonies. The concertos feature three great soloists: pianist Claudio Arrau, violinist Henryk Szeryng, and cellist Janos Starker. "No one, I trust, will deny that Arrau has lived with, wrestled with, and in a truly terribly way ’known’ the D minor Concerto for more years than most of us can consciously recall. Where contemporary pianists have often tended to refine or domesticate the concerto, withdrawing it from the world of heroic endeavour, Arrau has always done the reverse. No pianist, apart possibly from Serkin in his several recordings, has communicated so formidably the work’s scope: its seriousness and its anxious, tragic mood. Often Arrau makes free with the text. But the vision is huge, the technique astonishing. Haitink is a worthy accompanist."