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Site review by Geohominid February 1, 2008
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Performance: Sonics (S/MC): / |
There is considerable competition in the market for Brahms symphony CDs, much less so in SACD realm, although some recent releases have opened this up after a slow start. There has to be something special to attract buyers. In this case, Coviello give us the Aachen Symphony Orchestra, one of the oldest and finest municipal orchestras in Germany, and their present director, Marcus Bosch, who takes on the mantle previously held by conductors such as Busch, von Karajan, and Sawallisch.
The Aachen orchestra is notably smaller than the A List orchestras (who have over 100 players).
Given that Brahms' scores are quite Spartan for Romantic works (about the same instrumentarium as most Beethoven symphonies), I would guess that around 65-70 players were involved in this recording. This is much closer to the size of orchestra that Brahms himself would have conducted (often around 50). The balance between strings and woodwinds therefore takes us nearer to the 19th Century sound, as show for example by the Mackerras cycle on RBCD. Furthermore, in this recording a set of smaller than usual tympani were used, and they were played with hard sticks as in Brahms' and Beethoven's day. This makes a surprising difference to the rhythmic impetus of these works, as can also be heard in Haitink's LSO Live Beethoven series. It seems that a distinct effort was made to have a period-aware approach. With the scoring opened up, I was constantly noting the beautiful clarity of texture in both aymphonies. There was also a very strong sense of Brahms' debt to Beethoven, within whose shadow he often felt trapped.
Both of these symphonies are given very fine performances for live recordings (two takes were available for editing). Bosch has a very clear grasp of Brahms' structural plans, and places the true climaxes unerringly in each movement. The band responds splendidly, with expressive and agile playing in all departments. The dramatic opening of the First, with its relentless kettledrum strokes sounding like the tread of Fate itself, is arresting, and recalls a similar effect in the 'Den Alles Fleische' movement of Brahms Requiem. I found Bosch's urgency and passion in this work more convincing than the sometimes flabbly Allsop version on Naxos, although he does omit the first movement exposition repeat, which bothers some people. The only other caveat I have in Symphony 1 is the otherwise splendid first horn's micromanagement of the appearance of his 'Alpenhorn' solo in the introduction to the last movement. Listeners should be aware that there is over half a minute of enthusiastic applause after each symphony. Some will hate this, but I found it an appropriate emotional release, and in MC it is very realistic surround sound.
The Fourth symphony is given a really cracking reading, quite a bit faster than Haitink's LSO Live disc in the first two movements. The whole work has a satisfying strength and lyrical power, and the journey through the great final Passacaglia is thrilling. No problems here about the first movement repeat as Brahms had stopped using them himself.
Coviello's sound in 5 channel MC is very natural, with a good sense of the hall but lacking the ultimate sonic hologram effect which true DSD can bring. In addition, it seemed to me that the upper string tone tended to have a little glare at the top when pushed hard. Nevertheless, a very enjoyable sound with a nicely detailed sound-stage. Both CD layer and SACD Stereo tracks are fine, the Stereo a little dry.
The packaging, in a normal SACD clamshell, is attractive and up to Coviello's usual high design standards, including a very useful essay on the symphonies by Kai Wessler, which eschews technical jargon and is well translated into English.
These are certainly performances which I can live with, and if you prefer a lean and hungry Brahms to a staid and overfed Brahms, then give this disc a try.
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Copyright © 2008 John Miller and SA-CD.net
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Review by Scott March 14, 2007 (10 of 10 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics (S/MC): / |
Recording: Eurogress, Aachen. Dec 2006.
This disc features the 1st and 4th Symphonies of Brahms. I've probably listened to 40-50 performances of these works and own many copies on disc, but I haven't heard anything lately that sounds like these recordings. A general description might be that these performances sound like a cross between Charles Mackerras' and Nikolaus Harnoncourt's approach to the Brahms symphonies in their respective recordings with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic. I'm sure that not everyone will enjoy them; Bosch and the Aachen Sinfonie don't sound like Karajan or Bohm. Taken on their own, there are some things to recommend them.
Symphony 1: begins with a moderately quick opening, not quite the speed of Gunter Wand's Chicago recording, but almost. The tympani strokes are different from almost anything else I've heard. Higher-pitched seemingly (skins sound almost too tightly stretched) and using wooden mallets, they don't serve to provide a basso foundation, but rather an unusual, pounding "thwack" that I initially found a little annoying. The tympani also sound spot-lit, which perhaps contributes to their unusual presence. The bass line is mezzo-piano throughout, occasionally inaudible, and the orchestra sounds small, slightly larger than chamber-sized. The orchestral playing is very good, however, and the violins are smooth with no shrillness or harshness, and the diminished forces bring incredible clarity to some of Brahms' string writing - the last movement contains several superb examples. The two middle movements come off very good under this approach, but the beginning and ending were underwhelming at times - my perception was and is that the orchestral foundation is underweight, particularly in the bass line.
Symphony 4: the first movement can only be described in one way: fast. Clocking in at 11 minutes and change, it's played almost without any pause. It's almost a full two minutes faster than Karajan's last recording of this work. It's breathless and interesting, but misses much of the poignancy and "frei aber einsam" melancholy that can be drawn from this, the greatest of the Brahms symphonies. Not that the playing suffers - it's still very good, though there is again a much-diminished bass line, so critical to what I would consider "good" Brahms. The remainder of the symphony can be described similarly, with the two middle movements benefitting from the extraordinary clarity this approach brings, but sounding tonally anemic in spots.
I listened in stereo and MC, but found the stereo layer to have a better bass presence. Though the smaller forces and faster tempi may have been a deliberate approach on the part of the conductor, I'm not sure how "Brahmsian" many people will find this disc. The recording is extremely clear and present, but after Coviello's Bruckner recordings with these same forces, I was expecting more "air" around the sound. Given the interpretive approach, a wider and more resonant soundstage would have improved this recording, in my opinion.
Overall, an interesting effort, definitely off the "beaten path" in Brahms. It's not terrible and is certainly a legitimate interpretation in its own right, but it does take some getting used to. This approach might make more sense, at least to me, in the two Brahms symphonies not recorded here. Mackerras' 2nd, for example, is very good reading in which thick orchestral textures come out much more clearly with the chamber orchestral and the lack of tonal weight isn't as critical. While this recording is certainly worth hearing and will appeal to some, I don't think it replaces Karajan, Klemperer, Bohm, or Abbado as reference recordings for the Brahms symphonies.
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