Brahms: Violin Concerto; Double Concerto for violin and cello

Brahms: Violin Concerto; Double Concerto for violin and cello | Johannes Brahms, Eugene Ormandy, ... | Op. 102: a symphonic work pregnant of chamber music airs!

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Brahms: Violin Con...

	Brahms: Violin Concerto; Double Concerto for violin and cello Johannes Brahms, Eugene Ormandy, ... Sony, 2002 average customer review:based on 11 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

My Brahms

Opus 77 has always been one of my favorites, though this performance does seem a bit unorthodox, making up in liveliness what it lacks in finesse.
Then again, it takes a measure of musical sophistication to appreciate some nuances over others.

I've also come across Brahms's op. 77, 3rd movement in the movie (Warsaw Ghetto) Uprising. It melded in beautifully.

Op. 102: a symphonic work pregnant of chamber music airs!

I won't get tired to affirm that Brahms' chamber music is well upon his Symphonic and Concert works. The true nature of the musical form, the unrestricted expressiveness of his Pastoral approach and the most genuine essence of his musical thought must be seen throughout his chamber works. And thence, once you have been involved by his éclat, go then for his Symphonic and Concert works. Otherwise you would be able to obtain a non desired and distorted vision of him as composer.

This is an incomparable and memorable evidence of what Isaac Stern, Leonard Rose (renowned and outstanding artists who performed with Casals) legated to posterity under the accurate and serene perfection of the maestro Eugene Ormandy, whose dimension has not sill achieved the deserved importance at the moment to analyse the enormous significance of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

The Violin Concerto is played with serene elegance and sublime lyricism. For some it may be performed a mite slow, but to me it fits so well.

The jewel of the crown is undoubtedly, the Double Concerto. Stern and Rose performed so many times together in chamber programs (just remember his association with Istomin during the sixties and seventies) that contributed in excel grade to have achieved such grade of lyric expressiveness like no other performers had not been able to express. The autumnal approach given in the Second Movement is simply anthological.

So, don't miss this cult recording, under no possible pretext!

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Favorite Performance

Stern's tone is pure and soaring... the orchestra support is passionate and superb. This recording defines the art of the violin concerto. I am listening to it for the first time in years and it's more emotionally satisfying than even I can remember... especially the adagio. Stern's tone is beyond compare, not to mention the entire effect of the soloist and orchestra together. Since first hearing it I've never found a replacement performance. Sweet, tender, heartfelt and thrilling!

Heartfelt performance, but perhaps not for everyone

How do you listen to your concertos? Do you prefer the soloist to be heard vividly clearly in front of the orchestra or do you prefer a more of a blending between the two?

The performances by the soloists are simply fantastic. World Class in my humble opinion. Stern has always been one of my favorites, passed on by my mother.

I'm a blender. I love to hear the orchestra, particularly in the double! The first time I listened to my copy of this Brahms/Ormandy recording my ears were stunned by the shear in-your-face volume that Stern had over the Philadelphians. Particularly in the violin concerto, there was this sense that the orchestra was about three miles back behind him. The mix is better in the double concerto, or perhaps my ear adjusted. I appreciate the up-front sound more in the double as it really allows the inter-play between Stern and Rose to really shine, however, at the expense of missing some clarity of the orchestra's quieter parts.

At the going price, this recording should be, at minimum, a close supplement to your favorite recordings of Brahms. I did not experience the multiple popping mentioned by another review on the final track of the double. However, I do have empathy for their plight. I too experienced similar difficulties, including outright skipping, on the final track of a recently store bought Mahler 9th Barbirolli, conducting, produced by EMI.

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A favorite recording

This is a favorite recording of the Brahms Violin and the Double Concerto for me. Previously released on LP records, I wore out my old copy and had to get this recording on CD. I must have a copy in my collection.

Wonderful.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3

Tracks
Allegro non troppo | Adagio | Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace

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