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Is there a contemporary recording of Brahms 1st symphony that can match Furtwängler?

7K views 45 replies 21 participants last post by  starthrower 
#1 ·
Hello everybody, first post on this forum (but have been reading for a while).

I've recently started a little blog on classical music and Jazz (if you're interested: Musicophilesblog.com), and one of my first posts was about my all-time favorite symphony: Brahms 1.

When I was going through all my versions (I have about 30), I noticed that Furtwängler (Berlin and NDR Hamburg) is still by far my favorite version, with Klemperer being second. I haven't found any contemporary (i.e. last 10-20 years) version of no.1 which even comes close in terms of gravitas, energy, especially in the first movement.

Can you help me find any version that you feel can match those 50 year old giants?
 
#3 ·
Hello everybody, first post on this forum (but have been reading for a while).

I've recently started a little blog on classical music and Jazz (if you're interested: Musicophilesblog.com), and one of my first posts was about my all-time favorite symphony: Brahms 1.

When I was going through all my versions (I have about 30), I noticed that Furtwängler (Berlin and NDR Hamburg) is still by far my favorite version, with Klemperer being second. I haven't found any contemporary (i.e. last 10-20 years) version of no.1 which even comes close in terms of gravitas, energy, especially in the first movement.

Can you help me find any version that you feel can match those 50 year old giants?
Those are my two favorites as well--Furtwangler and Klemperer.
Have other great Brahms/1 been made in the interim? Of course. I really like Sanderling/Dresden and Szell/Cleveland, both about 10 years fresher than Klemperer. I do think that in the last 30 years or so there has been tendency to slow down and monumentalize this work, so not many recent readings have scored points with me. Andrew Manze spunks it up nicely in HIPP
style, but I think some of the baby goes out with the bathwater. Marek Janowski/Pittsburgh on Pentatone is the modern choice for me. Great playing, sonics, and Janowski is somewhat old school, in a good way.
 
#5 ·
Match? How does a new work of art... in this case a new interpretation of a work of art... go about matching a stellar older one? It seems to me that a key element in all of the classic recordings I own is that they stand out in one way or another. The conductor or performers have brought a unique and powerful vision to bear upon the work. If there are other recordings of equal (or near equal) merit it is not the result of "matching" the elements that made another recording so marvelous ("gravitas" & "energy") but rather it is the result of the conductor/performers bringing their own vision to bear... bringing something new.

Personally I quite like Furtwängler, Szell, Karajan, Klemperer, Walter, Jochum and István Kertész (which I've only just heard). For newer recordings, John Eliot Gardiner's is the one for me. It brought a muscularity & greater clarity to the density of Brahms that opened up his symphonies for me and led to a greater appreciation of the older recordings.

I'd like to hear the Janowski recording. His performances of Brahms' great rival are more than worth hearing.
 
#7 ·
Match? How does a new work of art... in this case a new interpretation of a work of art... go about matching a stellar older one? It seems to me that a key element in all of the classic recordings I own is that they stand out in one way or another. The conductor or performers have brought a unique and powerful vision to bear upon the work. If there are other recordings of equal (or near equal) merit it is not the result of "matching" the elements that made another recording so marvelous ("gravitas" & "energy") but rather it is the result of the conductor/performers bringing their own vision to bear... bringing something new.

Personally I quite like Furtwängler, Szell, Karajan, Klemperer, Walter, Jochum and István Kertész (which I've only just heard). For newer recordings, John Eliot Gardiner's is the one for me. It brought a muscularity & greater clarity to the density of Brahms that opened up his symphonies for me and led to a greater appreciation of the older recordings.

I'd like to hear the Janowski recording. His performances of Brahms' great rival are more than worth hearing.
I'm gld that you like Janowski Bruckner...I thought that JEG Beethoven was severely overrated when it came out and that discouraged me from seeking out any non-Baroque recordings by him. I'll give his Brahms a try if it is on Spotify.
 
#6 ·
Thanks all. Very helpful.

I asked the same question on another forum, Janowski came up as well, and I checked it out on my Qobuz streaming subscription. Turns out to be a very good recording (plus Pentatone's amazing sound quality). I couldn't find Gardiner on Qobuz (only 3 and 4 seem to be available), I very much like those two, so need to check no. 1 out.

However, among the recommendations from the other site (Gramophone forum), I got another alternative which I like even more than the Janowski: Klaus Tennstedt with the LPO on BBC (a 1992 recording only recently released). While I'd heard his name before, he kind of flew under the radar screen for me.
 
#8 ·
Thanks all. Very helpful.

I asked the same question on another forum, Janowski came up as well, and I checked it out on my Qobuz streaming subscription. Turns out to be a very good recording (plus Pentatone's amazing sound quality). I couldn't find Gardiner on Qobuz (only 3 and 4 seem to be available), I very much like those two, so need to check no. 1 out.

However, among the recommendations from the other site (Gramophone forum), I got another alternative which I like even more than the Janowski: Klaus Tennstedt with the LPO on BBC (a 1992 recording only recently released). While I'd heard his name before, he kind of flew under the radar screen for me.
I'm not a Klausophile. He has his very loyal following, but I somehow have avoided the spell. I have the Brahms on lp but consigned it to the also rans...if I recall there was a fair amount of gear shifting in I and IV, drawing a lot of attention to Klaus and imo away from Brahms.
I do have Jochum and the LPO in stereo (there is also a Jochum mono cycle). Curiously Jochum plays it fairly straight....not at all like his Bruckner.
 
#13 ·
Since this thread began I've yet to hear any mention made of the Toscanini recording making me think that there is something wrong with it? Is it the mono recording and the age resulting in less than stellar sound? I was shown early on that with older material you use older equipment thus the mono speaker and amp.
 
#15 ·
Chailly's current Brahms cycle of the symphonies is better than that of Furtwangler... (Kleiber is wonderful with Brahms too).
 
#24 ·
I haven't heard anything new that can match Furtwangler or Klemperer. Janowski isn't bad, but Chailly, Gardiner, etc. don't even begin to compare. The last really good Brahms to me would be either Abbado/Berlin or Levine/Vienna which were like late 80's early 90's. For modern stereo sound cycles Klemperer/Philharmonia, Levine/Chicago, Levine/Vienna, Abbado/Berlin, Sanderling/Dresden, Jochum/London, Wand/NDR and Dohnanyi/Cleveland are the top tier for me.
 
#32 ·
Try Dohnanyi, Ceveland on Teldec. Movement timings are pretty close to Furtwangler (Dohnanyi even faster in III and IV, which I think helps IV). This performance has plenty of power. Good sound, too.


Hey; I just noticed that I am now a SENIOR member. Does this mean I get discounts at restaurants?
 
#33 ·
Try Dohnanyi, Ceveland on Teldec. Movement timings are pretty close to Furtwangler (Dohnanyi even faster in III and IV, which I think helps IV). This performance has plenty of power. Good sound, too.

Hey; I just noticed that I am now a SENIOR member. Does this mean I get discounts at restaurants?
No but it does mean you can come by the office and get your special orange traffic crossing vest and whistle.
 
#39 ·
I just ordered the box set of all 4 symphonies by Solti, I also have all 4 (thought not in a box set format) by Bruno Walter saved on my wish list to buy next month. The box set I currently have is the one by James Levine on RCA which is nice as it includes the piano concerto #1 and one of my favorite works by any composer, Brahms German Requiem. I absolutely love that piece of music.
 
#44 · (Edited)
i fail to comprehend the fuss over furtwangler... yes he did some good recordings and he was talented but he gets the attention of like a god......
Ditto. I have made repeated attempts over many years to appreciate numerous interpretations by Futwangler, but without success. I more than likely will try again. For one thing, I find it particularly difficult to accept what I hear at times as excessively slowed individual passages. Nor, more broadly speaking, do I find myself much attracted to Furtwangler's aesthetic.
 
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