Review by Luukas September 14, 2014 (2 of 3 found this review helpful)
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Valery Gergiev's first release of Brahms's Complete Symphonies (Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2, Tragic Overture and Haydn Variations) was disappointing. LSO played too heavy, and recording was muddy and dry. But this is little better release, and this completed Gergiev's cycle. It is shame, that there isn't Academic Festival Overture, it would be good addition to this album. It was also disappointment that there isn't 5.1 multi-channel sound, only 5.0. By the way, Gergiev's performance is very welcomed. Third Symphony is sometimes too heavy and jealously, but Gergiev brings many enjoyable ideas to the performance. London Symphony Orchestra plays warmly and sonority, and engineering is pretty good; Barbican Hall's famous dry acoustic isn't depressingly, actually it really works with this music. Fourth Symphony is even better than Third Symphony on this disc. The beautiful second movement is very good, and third movement is playful. Fourth movement is fast, but it isn't hurry. Flute's lonely solo sounds magical, and brass famous choral thema is very effective. All in all, Gergiev's journey with Brahms' Symphonies is nice, but there are many better recordings on SACD. For example, Marek Janowski's cycle (PentaTone), with Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is much better than this: Janowski's tempi are moving and multi-channel sound surrounds the listener. There are my opinions of Gergiev's cycle: Performance ***1/2, Recording ****
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