Fischer Brahms

Absolutely yummy! Brahms orchestrated only a handful of his ever-popular Hungarian Dances. His friend Dvorák did a few more, and the rest exist in a variety of versions by a variety of arrangers. Conductor Iván Fischer has undertaken this job himself in several cases, with really impressive results. His solos and cadenzas for traditional instruments (Gypsy fiddle and cimbalom) sound perfectly idiomatic and tasteful, and his conducting manages to put some of the paprika back into the music without ever making it sound vulgar or mannered.

Ivan Fischer tunrs his attention to Brahms following three acclaimed and Award-winning recordings of Mahler. Stunning interpretation of Brahms Symphony No.1 – once again Ivan Fisher forces the the listener to re-appraise familiar repertoire…

Brahms was 43 years old when, after a long period of maturation, his First Symphony was published. Felix Weingartner commented on it ‘taking hold like the claw of a lion’ and its urgency marked a new phase in Brahms’ musical development. The Second Symphony is traditionally seen as the pastoral element in the cycle, while the Third, with its melodic beauty, has the courage to end quietly, an act of astonishing serenity. The compelling Passacaglia finale of the Fourth Symphony represents a fitting summation to one of the greatest symphonic cycles in the classical canon.