"Essential" Brahms recordings

[Rach3]

At least per WQXR:

https://www.wqxr.org/story/essential-brahms-recordings

[John F]

That's a pretty eccentric list - WQXR mostly favors Brahms lite, as in lite beer. A few standard recordings there, but mostly not.

[maestrob]

Wow! WQXR sure has a preference for contemporary recordings, yet I didn't see even one mention of the German Requiem with a traditional forces! Gardiner's original instruments disc is a poor choice here. Georg Solti/Chicago certainly outranks Nelsons's new set of symphonies, and HVK's video of the German Requiem is in a class by itself, IMHO. At least they list Kleiber's Fourth Symphony, and Leon Fleisher's set of the Piano Concerti with Szell: those I can agree with. There is much here I haven't heard to be honest, but no mention of historical performances leaves us stuck in the modern era, with no mention of Toscanini/BBC or Furtwangler in the Symphonies, a poor decision.

The late piano pieces (Opp. 117/8/9) have been better served both by Idil Biret on Naxos and by Nicholas Angelich, not to mention Murray Perahia.

The Violin Concerto was much better served by Heifetz/Reiner/Chicago in its day, and has now been even better played with more finesse and deep feeling by Renaud Capucon/Vienna Philharmonic.

I could go on, but I feel that this list is a poor one, with obvious omissions of great performances, not to mention the Liebeslieder Waltzes. (How about Rostropovich/Serkin in the Cello Sonatas?)

[barney]

That's a pretty eccentric list - WQXR mostly favors Brahms lite, as in lite beer. A few standard recordings there, but mostly not.

Brahms lite? What constitutes serious Brahms then? I might cavil at some of the recommended recordings, but the chosen works seem pretty fair to me.

[Lance]

I found the list disappointing, too. Some excellent recordings are shown thereon, but, like Brian/maestrob, some of the great recordings of the past far outweigh many of those listed. Music is, after all, much more than the finest in just sound reproduction. Furtwangler, Toscanini, and many others, whose recordings come from 78-rpm discs and early mono recordings have much more to offer in musical thoughts and inspiration. I was happy to see the Fleisher/Szell among the list, and the Fischer-Dieskau/Gerald Moore recordings, which are the "gold" among recordings. While I realize that it behooves us to support current-day artists, most of the elders of us learned from the best of the best from older recordings in just about every field of musical endeavors and, quite honestly, I am not impressed by much of what I hear being produced today, especially symphonically, and with many pianists (yes, are thinking the same names!).

[John F]

That's a pretty eccentric list - WQXR mostly favors Brahms lite, as in lite beer. A few standard recordings there, but mostly not.

Brahms lite? What constitutes serious Brahms then? I might cavil at some of the recommended recordings, but the chosen works seem pretty fair to me.

I wasn't talking about t he works in the list but the recordings of them. Serious Brahms? Klemperer/Philharmonia, for example, in the symphonies and the German Requiem.

[maestrob]

It appears to me that a younger person without our depth of knowledge chose that list, with a few recommendations from older colleagues or a web search.

[Lance]

I tend to agree with the below statement. It is surprising to me in my piano work that young people barely know the names of some of the world's most illustrious performing artists. Toscanini is hardly remembered at all. I guess, more and more, time changes things.

It appears to me that a younger person without our depth of knowledge chose that list, with a few recommendations from older colleagues or a web search.