Search - Brahms, Bernstein :: Brahms: Symphony 1 / Serenade 2 / Bernstein

Enjoyable

King Lemuel | Puyallup, WA | 03/31/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am at the NY Phil/Bernstein wing at Rhapsody and have been downloading and sampling Bernstein's music. There must be enough to fill more than an entire DVD. This morning I listened to much of "American Masters," "Harold in Italy," Bizet's "Carmen Suite" and am now listening to Brahms Symphony 1. It has been an enjoyable Saturday morning!



Bernstein covered much of the orchestral standards plus many of the great 20th century composers. I have listened occiasionally to the Brahms symphonies by other conductors but I am by no stretch an expert on them. That being said, my reaction to hearning Bernstein's rendition for the first time, as with much of his music, is "wow, that sounds good." This basic reaction that I have, before getting to the nit picky analysis, explains much of Bernstein's success. The bottom line for millions of listeneers has been, "wow, that sounds good." As usual, the playing by the orchestra, especially the strings, is sweet and this remastered recording, engineering wise, sounds wonderful. Bernstein's passion comes thru loud and clear.



Bernstein has been one of my favorites since I first started listening to classical back in the 70s. I have just about worn out his gatefold double Copland lp.



The late 50s thru the 60s were a golden age for many great American orchestras. If all we had to listen to were George Szell and the CO, Munch and Boston, Bernstein, Reiner and an the CSO, and Ormandy and the great Philadelphia Orchestra we would not go to bed hungry!



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Bernstein's Best Version Of Brahms' 1st Symphony

John Kwok | New York, NY USA | 04/06/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Although sound quality purists might prefer Bernstein's later interpretation on Deustche Grammophon with the Vienna Philharmonic, others may find Bernstein's earlier recording with the New York Philharmonic far more exemplary. Bernstein's earlier interpretation is far less idiosyncratic than his later version; here he opts for brisk tempi with a performance that is as emotionally stirring as any I've heard from the likes of Haitink, Harnoncourt, Masur, or Sanderling. It may be the best recording of Brahms' 1st symphony from the 1960's, not including Szell's classic interpretation with the Cleveland Orchestra (Unfortunately I have not yet heard Szell's Brahms, but it is reputed to be one of the few in which a premier symphony orchestra plays Brahms' scores as though they were chamber music.). Bernstein's interpretation of Brahms' 1st Symphony is coupled with a fine performance of Serenade Number 2. Although I remain a fan of Bernstein's later Brahms cycle, this earlier version of Brahms' 1st symphony is undoubtedly much better."

Excellent and lousy at the same time

Diatonic | AZ USA | 12/15/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"The last movement begins magnificently, about as good an interpretation as there is. But then Lenny lets his wayward ego loose and ruins the rest of the movement completely with erratic tempi, fast and then slow and then fast again, so that the whole stately structure of the music is lost. Poor Lenny got it and then promptly lost it. Maybe he was too young. This is from 1960."