Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Karel Ancerl :: Ancerl Gold Edition 9: Brahms & Beethoven / Symphony no. 1

Outstanding Brahms with few peers

Larry VanDeSande | Mason, Michigan United States | 03/20/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Karel Ancerl made many great recordings with the Czech Philharmonic in his quarter century with that orchestra. A 2003 review of his career in Gramophone magazine suggested his Beethoven "Missa Solemnis", Dvorak "New World" symphony, Mahler Symphony No. 1 and Janacek Sinfonietta among his greatest recordings. A recording of Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" and "Peter and the Wolf" was released in 2002 to wide open arms, too.



I would agree all those CDs are worth having. But none eclipses Ancerl's recording on the Brahms Symphony No. 1, a powerful, driven account that uses the timpani as a battering ram in the opening Un poco sostenuto, after which he pushes the music in the Allegro until letting up at the end of the first movement in something of an episodic adventure, not unlike a manic drive thorough the woods in horse-drawn carraige that suddenly is reduced to walking speed, then stopped.



His Andante sostenuto second movement is laid back and lovely, making way for ambition and anticipation in the Un poco allegretto e grazioso. An ominous adagio opens the finale, through which Ancerl delivers a relentlessly optimistic, forthright and heroic Allegro non troppo, finishing with a majestic sweep that carries the listener away in threads of joy.



I have listened to this music since 1972 and have never found another recording that quite equals it. All the great conductors recorded this music, most more than once, and critics are divided over which version is the best. After 40 years with Ancerl, I am of an opinion that he is a leader in this music.



The one downside to the new Ancerl Gold Edition is the inclusion of a mono Beethoven Symphony No. 1 that lacks distinction. I fixed this by burning my own home dream CD of the Brahms First mated with Ancerl and Josef Suk performing the Dvorak Violin Concerto, another of Ancerl's greatest recordings. If Supraphon had the guts, they'd have created that pairing on a super Ancerl CD certain to sell thousands of copies worldwide.



But they didn't, and today you have to "settle" for this -- one of the best Brahms First Symphonies in the catalog, devliered in great sound and competitve with any version you've ever heard.



When Herbert Russcol reviewed this in his 1969 book on discount records he said, "Ancerl and the excellent Czech Philharmonc have strength and vibrancy; the music is always alive. Theirs is a first rate disc and has been praised by critics everywhere." Forty years after its initial release, every word of that review is just as meaningful today."