Three-and-a-half stars -- The whole not up to the parts
John Grabowski | USA | 04/03/2002
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This is a hard one to rate. Everything's there for what should be one of the greatest Brahms 2nds and 3rds ever. Yet it falls short somehow. It seems a large part of it is Klemp doesn't have an eye (ear?) for the long line here, and Brahms is so much abou the long line. Thus there are many wonderful details--the way he handles the codas of the first movements of both works is almost worth the price of admission itself. But there are also some dead moments here--the recap of the big tune in the 2nd's first movement, with the poignant violin counterpoint underneath, isn't, well, poignant. And no, I'm not talking about tear-jerking or sentimental, I mean meaningful. The finale of No. 2 lacks fire and sparkle and is leaden and earthbound. Ditto the finale of No. 3. And the Philharmonia's strings sound a little thin and expressionless here. The brass is uncharacterisitically loud, but this didn't bother me: I have a feeling this is probably closer to how they really sounded in concert. (Engineers frequently pump up the strings and lower the brass to make the sound "sweeter.") And once again I miss the long line in the slow movement of both symphonies, the singing qualities. Everything is correct, but Klemp never transports me above the music. I always feel the time-beating. Tempo contrasts are pretty scarce.Mind you I don't think these are really bad performances. But this is Klemperer!, one of the great conductors ever and the man who gave us in the same series possibly the greatest Brahms 1st I ever heard (excepting Furtwangler). Tempi here are slow. Energy is sometimes in short supply. There isn't much rubato. I don't think he really penetrates these symphonies, especially the Third. Of ourse, great Thirds are hard to come by. If sound and price are no object I'd recommend Mravinsky on the 10-disc Mravinsky Edition Volume II on Melodiya/BMG. For a modern recording in good sound, the best I've heard is Solti (1978). Great modern Brahms conductors are hard to come by. As for these recordings, they're worth hearing. But I don't think they're quite indispensable."
Klemperer in his prime delivers a great Second and very good
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 04/09/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"These are among the most essential modern recordings of Brahms, from a great conductor in his prime. Klemperer began recording the four symphonies in Oct. 1956 but was interrrupted when his wife died suddenly of a heart attack in Munich. He returned to the project in the spring of 1957 -- the Second dates from the fall, the Third from the spring sessions. EMI was late in adopting stereo, so this counts as early for them. Luckily, the close-up sound is basically fine despite a little crunch in tuttis and some fuzziness in upper strings during loud patches.
The three-star reviewer misrepresents some things, such as basic tempos. Klemperer isn't slow in the Second Sym.; at the time reviewers remarked that his tempos were brisk, and they remain in the middle now (Bernstein with the NY PHil. takes 76 min. for both symphonies, Karajan 73 min. in his Sixties cycle, KLmperer 77 min. here). He didn't approach this work as a pastrol symphony, however -- there's strength, even grit where other conductors find gentleness. To hear what I mean, sample the Scherzo, one of Brahms's most lyrical examples; here, Klemperer brings out an unexpected wiriness in the oboe tune and a strong bass underpinning. I also don't understand Mr. Grabowski's remark that this performance lacks the long line or that its energy sags. This is a gripping reading that sweeps along powerfully, almost without respite, from first note to last. Maybe he had a preconceived notion in mind.
The Brahms Third is often typified as the trickiest of the four to bring off, in part because of the daunting violin writing in the first movement, in part because there's a similarity of tempo and mood in the remaining movements that must be overcome to hold the listener's interest. Here I agree with Mr. Grabowski that the brass are pushed forward in the soundstage and the strings comparatively recessed. It is also characteristic of the balance that Klemperer favored to highlight inner detail in the woodwinds. I only wish the string weren't so gritty-sonding in loud passages, even after remastering.
As for the performance, the first movement has a grounded sturdiness that inhibits the kind of soaring sweep one hears when Karajan conducts it, but everything is masterfully organized, and the punchy brass attacks are invigorating. The two inner movements are well contrasted, with an unusually gentle third movement that manages to remain melncholy while moving at rather a clip -- the combination turns out to be enticingly different. I like the finale to thrust toward a triumphal conclusion, although many conductors remain somewhat low-key, Klemperer among them. He begins steadily, his beat rather foursquare, and the big cello-and-horn entry lacks impact. Even so, these count as minor disappointments in a reading that displays all of the conductor's famous integrity and command.
There's an intuitive sense that tells us when a great conductor is on the podium, and I feel that here while not feeling it from Abbado, Sawallisch, Eschenbach, Bohm, Jochum, Sanderling, Barenboim, or Muti in their various Brahms cycles, however much praise they have earned. The first rank of Brahms conductors, for me at least, includes Karajan, Klemperer, Furtwangler, Bernstein, Levine, Bruno Walter, and perhaps Celibidache, to which one can add scattered readings from Giulini, Szell, and Carlos Kleiber. No doubt I've left some worthies out.
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Track Listings (8) - Disc #1
