Search - Johannes Brahms, Spoken Word, Georg Tintner :: Brahms: Symphony No. 3; Serenade No. 2

Fascinating Brahms Third

Patrick A Daley | Fredericton, New Brunswick | 08/22/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Really, when I bought this CD, I had no idea what to expect. How would a basically chamber orchestra like Symphony Nova Scotia do with a big Brahms symphony? The answer here is very well. One question that arises is just how small is the orchestra. The CD booklet says the orchestra has 37 musicians but later lists about 56 taking part in the recordings on the CD. Since there are two works recorded at different dates, it is impossible to guess which ones participated in each. However, I would guess from the sounds they make that it is closer to 50-odd than 37!



Having a smaller orchestra will change the relative balance of the strings and the brass, woodwinds and percussion somewhat, but the winds certainly aren't overbearing. The massed strings sound very smooth. Tintner emphasizes the normal musical accents, which adds considerable life to the performance, which is dramatic and insightful.



No doubt the orchestra is not as virtuosic as the Montreal Symphony or the Berlin Philharmonic, but really, the orchestra is pretty good. What they did do under Maestro Tintner's direction was make music. He was able to shape the dynamics and tempos very nicely and he had a firm musical intelligence. There is something strange in Band 1 at about 3:10 which I don't hear on other recordings. Perhaps something is missing for some reason or other, technical or otherwise. These are, after all, live recordings. However, it is only a moment, and if every moment counted so much, then I would have to downgrade Bruno Walter's classic Brahms recordings, too. I can live with an anomalous moment. What counts most is the overall spirit of the performances. I generally rate highly if there are enough positive things going on, rather than overemphasizing every little fault.



My favorite recording of the Brahms Third has long been the one with Bruno Walter conducting the Columbia Symphony Orchestra. Giulini did a fine one with the Philharmonia Orchestra. I haven't heard very many others I actually want to listen to. This is one of them, and I really enjoy listening to this performance.



Serenade No. 2 is a sunny work, though it has no violins, though it has violas, as Maestro Tintner pointed out in a short introduction. It is a cheerful work and Brahms liked it, though I dare say it was never as popular as Serenade No. 1 and I don`t think it has been recorded nearly as often. This is a good enough performance and I enjoy it but I have another somewhat better."

Impeccable Live CBC Recording with a Modicum of Audience Noi

Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 08/08/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897): Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90; Serenade No. 2 in A major [for small orchestra], Op. 16. Performed by Symphony Nova Scotia, directed by Georg Tintner. Recorded live at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium of the Dalhousie Arts Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia on 21st March 1990 (Symphony No. 3) and 29th January 1992 (Serenade No. 2) by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Re-released by Naxos as Volume 5 of the Tintner Memorial Edition in 2005. Total playing time: 70'29".



This live concert recording was first released by CBC and was taken into the Naxos programme following Georg Tintner's unfortunate death in 1999. Since then, Naxos have released a total of twelve discs celebrating the life and work of this often underrated Austrian conductor who studied and worked with the likes of Felix Weingärtner and Bruno Walter before having to flee his homeland in 1939. After this, Tintner appears to have worked almost exclusively in English-speaking countries, mostly with ensembles that have not necessarily been in the international limelight. His work in the late 80's and 90's with Symphony Nova Scotia must have been a high mark in the somewhat chequered history of this East Canadian orchestra, and the CBC recordings, while certainly not "perfect" (whatever that might mean in such a context), demonstrate his great musicianship and his ability to draw the best from an orchestra that has been described as "provincial".



The Brahms 3 was one of the earlier of these recordings and was only possible after the Symphony had been extended to around 60 players (from its more usual 30), Brahms having writting for a large orchestra. Even at this strength, there are, perhaps, certain weaknesses in the sound, at least when compared to other, larger ensembles, but the overall effect was, I felt, very positive - although not to be compared to the newer Naxos effort by the London Philharmonic under Marin Alsop (to be found here: Brahms: Symphony 3), which has playing a good deal more forthright and self-confident. Nevertheless, I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to Tintner, and as a non-musician (who does not have "perfect pitch") I was unable to hear any of the things that some other reviewers have groused about. The quality of the live recording is, I felt, impeccable, although this of course means that there is a modicum of audience noise throughout, with some prominent coughing occasionally interrupting the Serenade.



It was the 1992 Serenade recording, in particular, which attracted me. Brahms wrote this, as a young man, for small orchestral forces, deliberately leaving out the violins, as Georg Tintner points out in his spoken introduction (in excellent English, although still with an undeniably Austrian accent). I felt that the strictures of one of my fellow reviewers were undeserved, and that anyone except, possibly, an expert would be bound to feel satisfied with this lovely and lively performance which seemed to me to outdo the previous Naxos version by the BRT Philharmonic under Alexander Rahbari."

Tintner is very sympathetic, but his orchestra lets him down

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 05/22/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"George Tintner made a poignant end when he jumped to his death form his apartment rather than face the finale ravages of cancer. He had already led a poingnant life as a refugee from Hitler who would up in the far reaches (musically speaking) of New Zealand and Canada. It was heart-warming that he got a third act from Naxos, who paired him up with good musicians for a Bruckner cycle that won wide acclaim. The brief spoken introduction here to the Brahms Serenade #2 reveals an educated, sensitive, and sympathetic man.



But Tintner's Brahms third is undone by an inadequate orchestra. The smaller forces give us some nice inner detail form the winds, but Brahms's string parts are difficult, and here they are smeared over most of the time. As for Tintner's interpretation, it sound quite middle-of-the-road t me. I am not sure that Naxos has done him any favors with their pompous-sounding "Tintner Edition.'



The serenade, an early work without violins, is more suited to a chamber orchestra, and Tintner delivers an infectious, sunny reading, but once again not at a veyr high standard of execution. I felt affectio for him while listening, but I doubt I will ever return for a second hearing."