Search - Brahms, William Steinberg, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra :: Brahms: Symphonies 1 - 4 (Complete)

Classics

contrarian | Atlanta, Georgia USA | 07/02/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I love Brahms' symphonies, and I own several versions on CD, but these performances are the ones I always come back to. I owned the original vinyl releases on the Command Classics label. Command was an audiophile label run by Enoch Light during the early '60's. These recordings still sound fantastic, despite the lack of care and respect which MCA, the recordings' ultimate owner, has always shown the Command catalog.



William Steinberg interprets the symphonies with great insight and sensitivity. His reading of the First holds up against my other favorite--the rather more dramatic interpretation by Erich Leinsdorf and the Boston Symphony on RCA which has yet to see the light of day in any digital format. The real highlight, though, is the Third, which has a grace and lyricism matched by few other performances. The third movement--one of my favorite pieces in all of Brahms' oeuvre--has an unsentimental poignancy in Steinberg's hands which is unique.



This release has the look of a slapdash bargain-basement attempt to wring a few more bucks out of a cost-free back catalog--which is undoubtedly how the label views things--but the recordings themselves are treasures which should not be lost or overlooked.

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