Search - Johannes Brahms, Carlo Maria Giulini, Vienna Philharmonic :: Brahms: Symphony No. 2

Brahms ,with the handbrake on

P. J. Ross | uk | 03/16/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Giulini evokes rich ,autumnal sounds from the glorious Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,captured in a full almost saturated sound by the DGG engineers. Speeds,are,to my ears, just the wrong side of being expansive,and in principle all wrong for this symphony,until, that is, I start to fall under the spell of those marvellous Viennese strings,and then part of me,,against all my preconcieved ideas,just loves to linger.The combination of those wonderful cellos and Viennese horns, here produce the sort of sound that Brahms must have dreamt of.In the finale it is not until the coda that the horns,trombones and trumpets finally throw their hats into the air in as joyful a conclusion as you could wish for.As you can see ,I am persuaded in spite of my instincts ,I only wish that Giulini had been freer and slightly more mobile in his phrasing and not quite so stiff.In conclusion,this particular version must be a matter of personal taste.It "weighes in" at about 47mins.of playing time,and some collectors may feel a little shortchanged with that .Because of the reservations I have already stated I can only give it a qualified recommendation.In spite of that,I love it,a classic example,perhaps,of the heart ruling the head."