Search - Brahms, Toscanini, NBC :: Brahms: The Four Symphonies (Volumes 6-9)

A Great Brahmsian's Last Commercial Recordings of the Works

10/18/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Though Arturo Toscanini was an Italian, with a strong commitment to the opera and musical history of his native land, in countries with a German cultural heritage, he became respected as an authentic interpreter of Brahms (as an artistic inheritor of the style of a Brahms confidante, the German conductor Steinbach.)The NBC Symphony recordings included in this set are, in sum, in the finest possible sound transfers they have ever received (genuine mono, with crisp clarity and fine presence), better than any of the many previous releases dating back to the days of early 45 rpm and LP records. The performances are strong, and are characteristic of Toscanini's best late efforts to commit the composer's works to disk, though in a few cases, actual live radio broadcasts or concert performances offer greater relaxation and lyricism than these very intense readings.Symphonies: The First Symphony, recorded Nov. 6, 1951, is a very famous performance which by now must have sold in the millions of copies. It is slower and more grave than the intense live broadcast of 1943, in very wiry and distorted sound on Music & Arts set No. CD-995. I slightly prefer the 1941 Toscanini 78-rpm recording contained in Vol. 26 of the BMG Toscanini Collection (60277-2-RG) but the fidelity of those old shellac disks is not nearly as fine as the 30 ips high quality taped source for this '51 performance. Toscanini played the piece live on television about the same time, and the video transfer of the old kinescope film is available from BMG home video: the live performance is a bit "warmer".The Second Symphony was taken down on tape at Carnegie Hall on Feb. 11, 1952, and has warm sound to complement the emotionally-rich reading. The Third Symphony was recorded on Nov. 4, 1952: Toscanini seemed very tense, and -- though he used slow, broad tempi -- the reading is just not consistent or flowing. The live concert performance at Carnegie Hall, broadcast on Nov. 1, '51, was amazingly better. In this particular symphony, one might want to investigate the 1943 Toscanini live edition (in vastly inferior sound) in the Music & Arts set mentioned above.The Fourth Symphony was given a very fine, powerful, and somewhat austere reading, taken down in a recording session at Carnegie on Dec. 3, 1951. The live broadcast was also similar: Toscanini offered us a very sober, serious, and intense view of this late Brahms piece, accenting the academic nature of the construction of the music, and downplaying the "autumnal" qualities.The old 1935 BBC broadcast by Toscanini of this work is an utterly different presentation, with far greater emotional expression. The Double Concerto: despite its relatively early date of Nov. 13, 1948, this broadcast from Studio 8H is in fine, clear sound, with perfect presence and no surface noise. The early LP issues were grotesquely thin and wiry, but not this CD (the video of the simulcast on NBC TV also has fine sound, too.) Mischa Mischakoff and Frank Miller are dedicated though self-effacing solo performers, and the Maestro moves the music along at an unsentimental dramatic clip. The Song of the Fates: this very rarely played choral work of Brahms is full of drama and melody, and was well sung by the Robert Shaw Chorale. Again, as in the Double Concerto, the sound is very clear and transparent, considering the early date of Nov. 27, 1948, and is better than the previous LP issue and prior CD releases.The Liebeslieder Waltzes, Op. 52: from the same live broadcast as the Double Concerto, these waltzes are performed by a small chorus with Arthur Balsam and Joseph Kahn as pianists, Toscanini conducting with great involvement, passion, and emotion (as one can see in the BMG home video transfer of the telecast.) The performance is as far from a ripe, romantic "Viennese" approach as could be imagined, so some will hate it (but others might love it, as I do!)The Hungarian Dances: Nos. 1, 17, 20, and 21 are played in the orchestrations of Brahms and Dvorak, and recorded in super high fidelity sound on tape at Carnegie Hal on February 17, 1953: here is the frisson of the Hungarian element, emphasizing the paprika and not the Central-European schmaltz. Bracing!The Tragic Overture is a live performance from one of the finest of the Maestro's last season of broadcasts, on Nov. 22, 1953 in Carnegie Hall: in very realistic sound, superbly registering the clarity of Toscanini's orchestral sonority, the NBC Symphony members dig very deeply into the heart and soul of this magnificent work.The Academic Festival Overture: from a live NBC radio concert at Studio 8H on November 6, 1948, comes this good-sounding rendition, somewhat lacking in the lyricism and warmth we have come to expect from the piece, but bristling with vigor.Toscanini's Brahms overview must take its place with the most influential and historic recordings of the works, alongside those of Felix Weingartner, Wilhelm Furtwaengler, and Bruno Walter. Here in this set will be the best sound transfers you can ever obtain of these collectors' item recordings."