Brahms, Norrington Symphonies 3 & 4 Genre:Classical How Roger Norrington every managed to get a recording contract with a major label remains a complete mystery. The man is a musical monstrosity, and his Brahms is simply appalling. Despite the conductor's manifold claims to... more » historical authenticity, these performances are simply a willful collection of scrappy sound effects, harshly multi-miked and preserved in claustrophobic digital sound. Music-making of this amateurishness would be laughed off the stage, were it not for the pseudo-scholarly trappings supported by the cozy nepotism of the British musical press. A disgrace. --David Hurwitz« less
How Roger Norrington every managed to get a recording contract with a major label remains a complete mystery. The man is a musical monstrosity, and his Brahms is simply appalling. Despite the conductor's manifold claims to historical authenticity, these performances are simply a willful collection of scrappy sound effects, harshly multi-miked and preserved in claustrophobic digital sound. Music-making of this amateurishness would be laughed off the stage, were it not for the pseudo-scholarly trappings supported by the cozy nepotism of the British musical press. A disgrace. --David Hurwitz
CD Reviews
How Hurwitz ever got a job reviewing remains a complete...
Gregory M. Maldonado | Los Angeles | 05/03/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"...Mystery to me as well. Music reviwers and so called "critics" with snippy, arrogant, holier than thou attitudes such as this need to, in a word, get over themselves. He obviously hasn't the slightest idea what intelligent music-making is all about; he cannot begin to comprehend this high spiritual level of art, for if he did, he wouldn't show his ignorance by making comments such as those in his review above. These Brahms Symphonies under the vision of Sir Roger Norrington and company finally come to life in a way that has not been heard in this century. Sir Roger's understanding of the Brahmsian line and his uncanny sense of proper mood and tempi (that have come out his wonderful innate feelings of what harmonic motion in all about) are an aural revelation to behold. The clarity of sound, precision of intonation and range of dynamics and articulation from the gut-strung string instruments is a breath of fresh air; these qualities of his strings alone would rival the string section of ANY orchestra. The commanding power of the clear, sweet-sounding brass and the non-homogeneous individualistic sounds of the wind are breath-taking.Brahms is usually criticized for his mono-chromatically colored orchestration and orchestral writing, but this idea of Brahmsian mono-chromatism is at once dispelled from the very opening chords of the F major Symphony as performed by the London Classical Players. It is as if we are watching and hearing these shades of perceived gray turn into a glorious 35mm Nitrate Technicolor Imbibition print; obviously Mr. Hurwitz is used to relishing and seeing faded Eastmancolor prints that have all but turned red.And have you EVER seen Mr. Hurwitz's name associated with the creation a great work of art or HIS name associated with a major recording label? No, and you probably won't either...not in this lifetime. Perhaps we are getting a sense of what a bitter and jealous man he really is.Get a life, David."
How Hurwitz ever got a job reviewing remains a complete...
Gregory M. Maldonado | Los Angeles | 05/03/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"...Mystery to me as well. People with snippy, arrogant, holier than thou attitudes such as this need to in a word, get over themselves. He obviously hasn't the slightest idea what intelligent music-making is all about; he cannot begin to comprehend this high spiritual level of art that has been created for our senses, for if he did, he wouldn't show his ignorance by making comments such as those in his review above. These Brahms Symphonies under the vision of Sir Roger and company finally come to life in a way that has not been heard in this century. Sir Roger's understanding of the Brahmsian line andhis uncanny sense of proper mood and tempi (that have come out his wonderful innate feelings of what harmonic motion in all about) are an aural revelation to behold. The clarity of sound, precision of intonation and range of dynamics and articulation from the gut-strung string instruments is a breath of fresh air and would rival ANY orchestra. The commanding power of the brass and the non-homogenious individualistic sounds of the wind are breath-taking.Brahms is usually criticized for his mono-chromatically colored orchestration and orchestral writing, but this idea of Brahmsian mono-chromatism is dispelled from the very opening chords of the F major Symphony. It is as if we are watching and hearing these shades of perceived gray turn into a glorious 35mm Nitrate Technicolor Imbibition print; obviously Mr." Hurlwitz" is used to relishing and seeing faded Eastmancolor prints that have all but turned red.And have you EVER seen Mr. Hurwitz's name associated with the creation a great work of art or HIS name associated with a major recording label? No, and you probably won't either...not in this lifetime. Perhaps we are getting a sense of what a bitter and jealous man he really is.Get a life, David."
I want to hear these
Kockenlocker | Portland, Oregon United States | 04/27/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I attended a week-end long Brahms Festival with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Norrington conducted all four Brahms' symphonies over the weekend as well as lecturing on his approach to Brahms. I own and know by heart Bruno Walters early 60's recordings of the symphonies and also his 1954 recording of the German Requiem.Back to the Norrington performances I heard. They revealed aspects of the smphonies I had never heard. It was a revelation. I rated these albums unheard only to get this, I hope, on user comments. It may be I agree with Hurwitz after hearing the recordings--unavaiable as I write this. But from the performances I heard, I doubt very much I would agree with Amazon's critic's opinion.I'm going to search record shops as a result of Hurwitz's critique to see what-is-what in my opinion."
Rich Revelations
Todd R. Allen | Akron, Ohio United States | 04/05/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"While the period instrument approach to the Romantic period may not be to everyone's taste, these are still performances deserving to be heard by any lover of Brahms. Sir Roger, as always, is thoroughly dedicated in what he does, and communicates real vision to his wonderful band of players. His performance of the Third Symphony--to my ears, at least--seems the marginally better of the two offered here, although the second movement of the Fourth (a personal favorite) is really very special. Full marks, too, to the EMI engineeers who allow every detail to show in these recordings, while also framing them in a warm, welcoming, acoustic. Perhaps not the first choice if you want just a single recorded performance of either of these symphonies: I am still quite partial to the Jochum cycle on EMI, using traditional orchestral forces, given very good 1970's sound, and a very affordable alternative as you also get the Academic Festival Overture, Tragic Overture, Hadyn Variations, and a very livable performance of the German Requiem by the late Klaus Tennstedt on a pair of 2-cd sets (4 cds in all), but priced the same as 2 cds."
