Search - Brahms, Weingartner, Lso :: Symphonies 1-4 / Academic Festival Overture

Felix Weingartner's Brahms : A Grand Slam !

Jeffrey Lee | Asheville area, NC USA | 08/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In a nutshell, Weingartner's approach to Brahms is refreshingly straightforward. If you are a strong Klemperer fan you might not appreciate Weingartner's pace, which moves along at a fairly good clip in comparison ( though andantes are not rushed ). Yet despite this, he is very much in touch with Brahms' lyrical side. In fact, as far as the Four Brahms Symphonies go, I feel there are precious few conductors who match his superb combination of continuity, attention to nuance and musicianship. His is the only set whose four individual performances all make it to my favorites list. Any one of them gives me great listening pleasure. And all this in spite of less than excellent modern sound. ( Incidentally, the set reviewed here is the EMI Classic References, which sounds good enough for me. ) My other preferred Brahms Symphony cycles are Jochum/Berlin Phil., Walter/Columbia Symphony and Klemperer/Philharmonia.



Here are my top choices on an individual basis (not necessarily in order of preference): Sym.1---Klemperer, Weingartner, Walter(Col. Sym.) and Van Beinum/Amsterdam Concertgebouw; Sym.2---Jochum/Berlin Phil., Weingartner, both Walter's New York Philharmonic (mono) and Columbia Sym. conceptions, Kertesz/Vienna Philharmonic and Schuricht/South German Radio Symphony Orchestra; Sym.3---Jochum/Berlin, Weingartner, Tennstedt/London Philharmonic live on BBC Legends and Szell/Cleveland Orchestra; Sym.4---Walter (Col.Sym.), Klemperer, Weingartner, Abendroth and Reiner/Royal Philharmonic....By the way, I smiled a bit in response to Jeff Lipscomb's review comment that Weingartner's finale of the Brahms Second was "...the fastest I have heard..." Jeff, listen or re-listen if you can to both Jochum's Berlin and [especially] Walter's earlier New York Philharmonic closings. By comparison, they make Weingartner's seem almost snail-like."

If You Like Your Brahms With "Classical" Poise

Jeffrey Lipscomb | Sacramento, CA United States | 05/25/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This set of Brahms' 4 Symphonies, plus the Academic Festival Overture, is out of print. I traded mine in for the EMI References 64256-2 set - it had ever so slightly better sound. Apparently it, too, is in limbo.



Weingartner is for those who prefer a more "classical," restrained rendition of Brahms, as opposed to the more romantic, improvisational Furtwangler (Music & Arts) or the more tense, rigid accounts by Toscanini and Szell. Weingartner, in this sense, is the "mot juste" soup: not too hot and not too cold.



Although all of these were recorded 1938-40, the sound is quite clear (unlike various "bootleg" transfers on mostly Italian labels). Weingartner had a wonderful ear for nuance, shading and balance: these accounts are very easy to follow with a score because, despite the elderly sonics, everything "sounds."



Perhaps the only real weak spot in this set is the 2nd, which has a VERY fast last mvt (one of the fastest I have heard). The 1st Symphony is fairly straightforward - if your idea of how this should go is Furtwangler's 1951 Hamburg account (M&A), this may strike you as a bit TOO understated.



My favorites here are the 3rd and the 4th. This 3rd (oddly, the weakest performance of the 4 by both Furtwangler and Toscanini), is distinguished by superbly judged tempos, fine playing, and all kinds of subtle nuances of phrasing. Likewise the 4th - its last movement is one of the very finest ever recorded. And somehow Weingartner manages to keep a rock steady tempo in the closing pages - a very rare feat indeed.



Fortunately, the 3rd is now in Weingartner's volume of EMI's "Great Conductors" series, and the 4th is available as part of a multi-disc Brahms set on Andante in a very fine transfer. This Academic Festival Overture is a bit low voltage for my taste - frankly, I'm more persuaded by Mengelberg and Knappertsbusch in this one.



Budget label Naxos has released a complete Weingartner Beethoven cycle - perhaps this Brahms set is also on their horizons."