Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 1 - 4 / Piano Concerto No. 1 / A German Requiem 8 Lieder

Fair warning, I'm gushing all over tha place. Then, an ending rant.This Brahms set is very welcome back to the available current catalog. I've long, long, long awaited its re-release, all four Brahms symphonies; every bit as much as I waited and waited for the classical music powers that be to release Levine's four Schumann symphonies with the great, grand Philadelphia Orchestra, on a double CD set. I will still recommend those Schumann symphony discs as among the richest, most enduring big band readings we've had so far on PCM discs. (My most recent Schumann gushing has been called forth by Sakari Oramo in Stockholm (Sony), and Gregorz Nowak with the Royal PO (RPO in-house label). Schumann pride of place still has room for quite a few readings, and the Levine/Philadelphia set will surely live on among the chosen.Now to this Brahms thing. Goodness sakes, what superlative cannot be used, possibly? By anybody who has ears to listen? Let's start with a little folklore about the recording sessions. Folk tales have it that, way back when RCA/laterBMG was having Levine put down his youthful Mahler with top-notch bands like Chicago, London SO, Philadelphia; the Mahler sessions repeatedly came in, short of the recording time already reserved for the Mahler. This is a bit amazing in itself, as ... if anybody is going to be able to whip up worthwhile music and have recording time left over, Mahler's immense, complex musical tapestries hardly seem like a best shot for merit, still standing after efficiency. But, so the stories go, that is exactly how it was.Recall that this series was going to be the first big run of Mahler symphonies on the RCA label. Leinsdorf with Boston had done symphonies one, five, and three (ahhh, Shirley Verrett). Stokowski had give RCA a Mahler second with LSO, and a big, handsome, well sung Mahler eighth had also been cribbed over from London, this time with Wyn Morris leading his hand-picked Philharmonica of London. I suspect the latter two items are the main reason RCA did not have Levine record the Mahler second and eighth in his nearly complete series. (Those Levine Mahler readings have been re-released, by the way, contemporary with this Brahms set.) In the recording session time left over after getting the several Mahler works down, Levine would spontaneously take the occasion to record something extra with whatever band was at hand, mostly Chicago. So in short order we got all four Brahms symphonies, and a Stravinsky Petrushka, ... and maybe, unsure as I am, the four Schumanns?The moment I spun those vinyl discs, I was hooked on Levine's Brahms. Overall, he is complicated/rich (musically speaking). All involved manage to whip up quite a bit of urgent drive (like Toscanini with the BBC in London). These readings are very alive, possessing a constant and alluring way in all the right passing moments that conjures a deep clarity of musical textures and forward vision (like Szell). Then Levine and Chicago are able to add in, a near-operatic, lifting song that so far nobody else has quite floated so eloquently. When Chicago sings under Levine on two discs in this set, the phrasings and tempos seem quite apt. These musical elements also somehow seem to simultaneously communicate a structural grasp on Brahmsian flow (rivers, forest pathways, breezes caressing or hearty) - flow in the deeps, and expressive flow details on the surfaces - that few conductors living or dead have been able to give us on disc.I don't doubt that a live concert reading might still rise and sing so high as Levine with Chicago; but on disc these four symphonies became inevitable touchstones for me as a gush listener. (A colleague once deigned to inform me that he, too, had been a fan of Brahms early on, but then matured, outgrowing this composer. I have not, alas, been able to match his superior musicianship. I'm still very head over heels on Brahms.)The opening of the first symphony is brisk ... like Toscanini or Sir Adrian Boult. The maestoso quality comes through in the mass, motion, and crisp phrasing. Right from the first note, we can hear that we are in for really big band Brahms. The innate drama easily associates backwards, to von Bulow's calling the first, "Beethoven's Tenth." All the rest emerges as the first symphony rolls onwards. By the end of the first symphony, I felt quite involved and sated; no rushing on to the next symphony, especially since on the disc, this amounts to Brahms fourth. I needed some time to cherish, digest, and assimilate Levine's reading. Having paused, I drew out the second disc and went on to Brahms' second. Deep-throated, down low, and growly in a very lovely sort of way, was Levine's Chicago opening. My strongest touchstone for this symphony has long been Pierre Monteux in Vienna; but just a few measures in, I knew that Levine was an equal, though quite different - again in that Toscanini plus singing manner.The third symphony was moving right along from its chordal opening gestures, with a near perfect Chicago balance among the woodwinds, strings, and brass. The instrumental mix of this gesture/declamation is not easy to get right, and if the start of the symphony often needs some time to find its feet, we listeners often make allowances. None for Levine/Chicago this time around. Levine gets it clearly, how these chords announce harmonic structure that will underpin the entire, condensed music through all four movements. Yet the singing touches of the flourish are shining out just enough, so that later, when Levine and Chicago relax all that forward drive (without necessarily dropping the basic tempo back, all that much ... imagine?), this third comes across, whole. By the transcendent ending bars, Levine/Chicago are floating angelic in as sweet a manner as nearly anybody else on disc, though a tight, clear hand is at the helm, right through. I do like to slow down in strict time to revel in those closing pages, but a great danger obtains that the whole conclusion may fall apart into separated pieces, and thus fall short by trying to find deep beauty at the expense of strength and narrative. Then back to the other disc for the fourth symphony. Oh, goodness me, gush, gush, gush. I've many touchstone discs on the shelf for Brahms' fourth, among them the SACD version, Carlos Kleiber with Vienna. I'm also devoted to the SACD disc of Bruno Walter (sadly withdrawn, I believe ... what is Sony thinking? Alas, now they appear determined to cheat us, as owners of both the golden age CBS and RCA back catalogs.) Suffice it for me to say honestly, how Levine with Chicago makes a lasting place for itself, along side very great exemplars. The drive, the songful phrasing, the clear musical orchestral textures - all strongly underpinned by a masterly grasp of harmony, structure, intense though vivid and subtle Brahms narrative. Putting a Brahms fourth together like this is not easy, not easy at all. One typically is satisfied by getting it more or less right, technically, and the deeper, elusive highways and byways of the symphony are nearly always, only partly revealed and fulfilled. Consistent with his vision, helped greatly along by Chicago's fire and instrumental technique, Levine lets the engineers capture another fourth of likely irreplaceable musical merits.The rest of this set is two additional discs, one with Emmanuel Ax's first piano concerto, and the other with Levine's Chicago German Requiem. Those have been released before on PCM disc, and the readings are quite good, too. It is the four symphonies that return to life. Welcome, welcome.One loud, bilious, potty-mouthed, nagging rant: as DSD mastered, Sony could have easily given us SACD discs of these fine back catalog readings. Phooey. Yuck. Sony selling us short, as if were all IPOD teens, again. Ugh. It sounds like the engineer(s) had to make a PCM down mix choice between clarity/brightness and warmth. So we get more clarity/brightness than warmth. An SACD disc would probably have given both dimensions, hands full. Are you ever going to listen, Sony? Really. Are you ever, ever, ever ... going to listen?

David Hurwitz was right when he reviewed this RCA set of the 4 Symphonies, 1st Piano Concerto , German Requiem and some assorted lieder on I believe, Arkivmusic.com. Couldn't agree more than Ido. The 4 Symphonies were taped between 1975 and 1983, the concerto is from 1983, along with the Requiem and the 8 various songs. The symphonies were done in Medinah Temple,the other works downtown in Orchestra Hall. I paid a modest $12.50 or so, here on Amazon for this wonderful set, and have already listened to nearly all of it. It arrived only a couple of days ago. Back in 1976, my wife and I were living in the Chicago area, our home region. We were pulling into one of the community's public libraries, in the winter, and the car radio was playing a "new release" Johannes Brahms' 4th Symphony. We waited till it was finished, then went inside to check out some books. I recall I was very impressed with the real sound of the timpani strokes in the scherzo and finale of this last symphony of the composer. Don't ask me where my car keys are today but about the recording I heard over45 years ago!! Crazy? After a couple of strokes nearly 6 or 7 years ago, this has been the case. When the CD players started coming out, around 1990 or so, I bought a single disc Denon that ran for about 10-12 years before it died, and the first real quality release I bought at Tower Records in California, where we had moved as the result of a generous job offer, was the Eurodisc set of 4 symphonies, plus the overtures with Kurt Sanderling leading the Dresden Staatskapelle, and I got that also for about the same price. After more cycles by, Barenboim, Solti, Wand, Szell and lots of single releases here and there, the Sanderling was still my top choice. Now, there's a challenger, Levine and the CSO. Is Levine better than Sanderling? Well, let's put it this way. Maestro Sanderling was well into his later years when he recorded this music, I don't know right now just how old, but I'd guess his 70's, at least. Jimmy Levine was around 32-40 or so when he recorded this set for RCA. To have as much insight and grasp of these masterpieces at such a young and tender age is astounding. In 1975, the maestro from Cincinnati was appointed Music Dir. of the N.Y. Met and was also Music Director of the Ravinia Festival, wherer we first heard him..Ravinia is a beautiful huge park about 20 miles north of Chicago. The CSO has an annual Summer residence there and has a performance history of just over 100 yrears. For a lot less money, you can hear America's best orchestra in the comfort of casual dress, lawn chairs and a pre-concert picnic. All under the Summer stars, and, as my wife will tell you, it is a very romantic place. As I cruised through this set of the symphonies first, I noticed during the 2nd Symphony in D, Levine's grasp of the lyrical side of Brahms is perhaps the most beautiful I've ever heard. It certainly rivaled Sanderling, and to do that, at age 34 or 37 is stunning. I began re-listening to each movement, almost immediately, so I wouldn't loose my mental picture, like I loose my car keys, (L.O.L.) I could cite a cluster of examples too numerous to list, but it boils down to a theory of mine. My thoughts are that his years of accompanying singers, blending orchestra with a chorus and his sense of grand presentation have resulted in an orchestral sound of the greatest economy, detail and a flavor of tone that sounds almost hand-sculpted. We haven't seen James Levine now for years, since we've lived on the West Coast since 1990, but I clearly recall his style as reserved, tidy and quite direct. Very different from the "herky-jerky" flares of Solti, the long, arcing sweep of the ever elegant Carlo Maria Giulini. But then, one of my golden rules applies here. "Conductors should be heard and not seen." I wonder how Bernstein would have acted on the podium if the world were blind. Any how, these symphonies are all of the highest quality and represent I think, some of Levine's best work. He should be very proud of this fine set, and YOU should have it on your shelves, regardless of how many other Brahm's you own.A volume this good should always find a home. The piano concerto with the reliable emanuel Ax is poignant, energetic and smooth as silk. Orchestral accompanyment is sweet and fitting, hence there is a real conversation going on here, as it should be. Lastly, the Requiem. The German Requiem dates from 1983 and I already own it in it's single release form. HOWEVER! There is a newer recording available that everyone, and I mean EVERYONE should own. It is a S.A.C.D. reading from Sept. 2008 featuring the Boston Symphony in a simply breath-taking performance with two good soloists and the gorgeous Tanglewood Festival Chorus, here the rival of the CSO Chorus. The sound is stunning and the balance by the Maestro is trully exquiste. I can't praise it enough. But, for the sake of brevity, please see my eview of that release elsewhere here on these pages. In conclusion, this is a 5 STAR release, 5 very enthusiastic stars, at that! A dessert island choice for sure. Do not delay, get yours today and ENJOY!!

To rephrase a question posed in another review - How many recordings of the four symphonies of Johannes Brahms does one need? Well, I already had Bernstein's New York and Vienna cycles, Karajan's 1978 Berlin cycle, Sawallisch's late-80s/early 90s cycle with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, James Loughran's 70's Halle set and Rattle's recent Berlin cycle sitting side by side on the shelf, as well as James Levine's Vienna cycle as a download - all excellent performances that are as familiar and comfortable as a pair of well worn slippers. To compliment Levine's Vienna set I decided to buy this four-CD set with Levine and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and I've just spent the past four nights listening to and wallowing in this glorious set of four CDs.Being a huge fan of James Levine's recordings I could quite easily fill this review with superlatives and be tempted to provide detailed analysis of each movement, but I will merely provide the basics.The symphonies - recorded between 1975 and 1976 at the Medinah Temple, Chicago - are played superbly by the Chicago SO, and why wouldn't they be? After all, these symphonies are performed regularly in any orchestra's concert schedule. Bread and Butter music, you could say. For me, though, there is just something very different about these recordings of Brahms' symphonies and I cannot enthuse about them enough. The detail of the orchestral playing is just stunning; particularly noticeable if you are listening whilst following the scores of these works. Levine's interpretations are just so musical. They seem almost perfect to my seasoned 'Brahms ears' . There is rhythmic drive, beautifully phrased slow movements and outstanding solo playing throughout; Dale Clevenger's horn solo in the third symphony's third movement is hauntingly beautiful. I almost stopped breathing whilst listening to this. The first piano concerto - with Emanuel Ax as soloist - recorded (as is the German Requiem), in Orchestra Hall, Chicago, in 1983 is also superb; just a pity that the second concerto wasn't included. The Requiem is given a wonderfully moving and inspired performance. Again, Orchestra and Choir (the glorious Chicago Symphony Chorus prepared then by their inspired chorus master, Margaret Hillis) are in cracking form. Of the two soloists, Kathleen Battle (soprano), and Haken Hagegard (baritone), apologies for the absence of accents above certain letters - my phone does not 'do' them, I am more positive about Hagegard's singing than Battle's. I'm not a fan of her 'Wobblemente' style. It is an expressive-enough performance from Battle and vocal vibrato can be effective, but not with every note. I found it tiresome. Solti's Chicago SO recording has Kiri Te Kanawa as soprano soloist. A much better alternative. The two vocal soloists also feature in a selection of eight Brahms' Lieder as the fill ups on CD 3. These were recorded in RCA Studio A, New York City in 1983. I haven't heard these yet at the time of writing this review.Of course, Levine's symphonic/purely orchestral recordings are from the early part of his conducting career, before he became fully immersed in the world of opera, and I feel it a pity that he didn't record more of this repertoire; although his recordings of the complete symphonies of Mozart with the Vienna Philharmonic are celebrated. These recordings will be often played and are a welcome addition to my ever-growing James Levine discography.....not to mention the section of my CD library devoted to Brahms' symphonies.All performances are excellent - apart from my dislike of the soprano soloist, but that's entirely my opinion - the recorded sound is top drawer. I would say that these are some of the best RCA Red Seal recordings I have heard and present vintage Chicago SO performances. The only drawback with this 2011 compilation is the absence of any liner notes within this slimline box.In concluding then, if you are looking for recordings of these works (either as a first time buyer or a fellow seasoned Brahmsian), then, put simply, buy them.

Nach meinem Neuzugang dieser Barhms-Sinfonien - GA (Aufnahmen RCA 1975/6) im Dezember 2017 habe ich zuerst mal die Sinfonien Nr.2 und 3 gehört, weil ich davon auch die Levine-Vergleichsaufnahmen mit den Wiener PH (DG) habe; bei der die Sinfonie Nr.3 volle Begeistung ausgelöst hatte. Die Zweite finde ich allerdings in dieser RCA-Aufnahme vorteilhafter, weil spannender und nicht so lupenrein mit mehr Betonung der Ecken und Kanten.Nun habe ich auch die Sinfonien Nr.1 und 4 gehört und kann nun die positiven Kritiken bei amazon nachvollziehen, sowie die Aussage (eines amazon-Kritikers hier) verstehen, dass "diese Aufnahmen nur noch von einem zu toppen sind .. die von Levine selber auf DG".Es ist gewiss nicht so, dass Levine nur auf dem Gaspedal steht und nur Augenmerk auf die dramatischen Passagen hat. Bei ihm ist das sehr ausgewogen, aber wenn es es zur Sache geht, dann ist er und das Orchester hochemotional dabei. Sehr schön auch, das Levine keine Paukenstelle verschluckt (die sind zwar in Chicago etwas entfernter, aber immer absolut präsent). Ganz herausragend gelingt ihm das Finale der Ersten und einfach fantatisch finde ich seine Vierte. Den 3.Satz liefert mit Hochspannung als Vorbote für das dramatische Finale - ja, so präsent und mit Nachdruck habe ich die Pauken noch nirgendwo gehört - selbst bei den Allerbesten 4 mit Steinberg, Solti und Dorati nicht, zu denn er sich ohne wenn und aber einreihen kann.*** Man spürt, dass sein Lehrer George Szell einen wichtige Rolle als Vorbild für seine Brahms-Interpretationen spielt - das gefällt mir - ganz grosse Klasse !

Esta integral de Brahms con Levine y Chicago goza de predicamento en la crítica internacional. Por eso la compré (y porque está tirada de precio). Pero las interpretaciones tienen tanto nervio, que muchas veces Levine se pasa de la raya. Además la toma de sonido es tirando a mediocre.

Diese Aufnahmen der Brahms-Symphonien (entstanden 1975 und 1976) seien all jenen ans Herz gelegt, die ihren Brahms geradlinig, kraftvoll, süffig und in starken Farben gemalt hören wollen. Levine und das Eliteorchester aus Chicago liefern hier leidenschaftliche, extrovertierte und klangmächtige Interpretationen ab. Die leisen Zwischentöne, Zurückhaltung und Zartheit sind Levines Sache nicht. Dennoch gehören diese Aufnahmen in ihrer Totale sicher in eine der vorderen Reihen, gegen die bekannten Referenzeinspielungen, wie jene von Klemperer (EMI/Warner) oder Wand (BMG), können sie meines Erachtens aber nicht bestehen.Angesichts des äußerst günstigen Preises seien sie aber vor allem Einsteigern empfohlen, zumal die Box auch noch das 1. Klavierkonzert, ein paar Lieder und das Deutsche Requiem, auf das ebenfalls die oben dargestellten Attribute zutreffen, enthält.

This is one of the Best versions of the Brahms symphonies. I just wished they (RCA) would move into better packaging - this is still the older packaging for 4CDs. But I am glad I have this set.