Eccentric Brahms
Brian H. Williams | Manteca, CA United States | 07/25/2001
(3 out of 5 stars)
"As a huge fan of Stokowski, I found his Brahms 3 disappointing. He takes the first movement intorduction at a breakneck pace before slowing down to an acceptable tempo for the melody. Then he takes a slower than usual tempo for the 2nd movement, but it's filled with emotion, so it works. The 3rd movement has glorious string sound and sounds great. The 4th is where Stoky misses his mark. The tempo is far too slow to generate any excitement. It's tightly controled performance with good sonics, but his version is nowhere near the brilliance of Bruno Walter on Sony, and George Szell, also on Sony. Go with those two first before trying Stokowski's 3rd. Steinberg's version of the 4th symphony is not in the same class as Stokowski, Walter, Reiner or Toscanini. The Pittsburgh symphony is lacking the orchestral sonorities common with the conductors I mentioned, and Steinbergs drums seem really weak, however, I would reccomend this performance to beginners of this symphony. It's a straightforward performance that has many satisfying moments. I would reccomend this cd, only for comparison purposes only. It gives the listener insight as to how eccentric Stokowski could be."