Brahms' Horn Trio,Op.40 redux

[Rach3]

I am a fan of the Brahms Horn Trio ( Brahms may be my fav composer, depending on the day ) , my recording the Decca lp with young Perlman and young Ashkenazy joined by Tuckwell, but here is a performance I just heard I think I like better, by the Nash Ensemble, a group I also respect :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA8_SIe9hjE

The Adagio is especially remarkable, as a friend said, " Into the depths of the Black Forest and perhaps into the depths of Brahms himself."

[John F]

I've never heard a bad recording of this, from the first one by Adolf Busch, Rudolf Serkin and Aubrey Brain to the present. Oddly, I've never heard it in concert.

[jbuck919]

I've never heard a bad recording of this, from the first one by Adolf Busch, Rudolf Serkin and Aubrey Brain to the present. Oddly, I've never heard it in concert.

Indeed. I don't know anybody who does not love this work, and I have heard it in concert performed by forces no one here would have heard of. It is not a transcendental work, as is not most chamber music involving piano. On a good day when I was in form and after much practicing, I might have done it myself, though they probably would have had to take me to the hospital when it was over.

Incidentally, that picture represents the way Brahms looked for much of his life. He disliked is boyishness and tried a couple of times to grow a beard before he was finally successful. He had an operation, rather unsuccessful, to lower his high-pitched voice. There is this famous recording made by no other than Thomas Edison (or someone working for him). Watch the whole YouTube, which is fascinating.