Search - Johannes Brahms, Marek Janowski, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra :: Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor; Haydn Variations [Hybrid SACD]

Brahms Recorded Live and in Rich SACD Sound

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 09/07/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After more than 100 years of recordings there are literally uncountable numbers of recordings of the Brahms First Symphony and of the Variations on a Theme of Haydn. In my own collection I was able to find fourteen versions of the First Symphony ranging from Weingartner's 1938 account to Marin Alsop's 2006 recording with the Bournemouth Symphony. So the question is, why do we need a new recording? Well, there are a few reasons one might want another, e.g., a fresh perspective that brings a view to the music that no one else does and a recording that uses cutting edge technology and gives the music a more lifelike sound. These qualities are present in this recording by Marek Janowski leading the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Also, I tend to prefer the excitement of live recordings and this CD was indeed recorded live in concert in Pittsburgh's Heinz Hall. (Parenthetically, let me say it is a delight to find the Pittsburgh -- and indeed any American orchestra -- recording again. It has been almost ten years since the PSO made a recording.)



In all fairness, I had some real doubts about this performance of the symphony the first time I listened to it. It seemed too fast in spots; I found myself wondering what the rush was and thus found myself resisting the sweep that this approach gives the music. But on rehearing it seemed more and more appropriate to the kind of playing the PSO brought to it. This is partly a function of the clear recorded sound. One gets the luxuriance of Brahms's orchestral textures coupled with such clarity that inner voices are heard in a way that is unusual, something that really grew on me. Somehow Janowski and the PSO convey the music's blended richness while also exposing its inner details. The Pittsburgh is an orchestra in great shape, and there are marvelous touches from the its several departments, e.g., concertmaster Andrés Cárdenes's gorgeous solo violin in the second theme and at the close of the slow movement, the buttery blend of the horns and other brass throughout as well as the solo horn call in the finale and the flute solo that follows its first appearance, the piquant oboe solos, the solo clarinet in the scherzo, the velvety strings (listen to the first appearance of the Big Tune in IV), the imperative sonic presence of the important timpani part.



As for the Haydn Variations, this too is a bit faster in spots that one might expect, but the clarity of textures is not only acceptable but makes it seem right, even inevitable. I particularly loved the spirit and lightness of Variation V and the weightiness of the Finale.



I listened to the CD in both plain stereo and SACD sound and found them to be roughly similar. There is, of course, greater presence in the SACD version but the plain CD sound is demonstration quality as well.



I hope what I've said gives readers enough of a feel for what this performance (and recording) is like to help them make a decision about whether this is worth buying. I for one am very glad I have this CD.



Scott Morrison"