Buy new:
$20.99
FREE delivery Tuesday, May 14 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon.com
Sold by: Amazon.com
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Tuesday, May 14 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 55 mins
Only 1 left in stock (more on the way).
$$20.99 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$20.99
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
All our items include the original disc(s) in the original case. Your purchase funds free job training and education in the greater Seattle area. Thank you for supporting Goodwill's nonprofit mission!
$3.99 delivery Friday, May 17. Details
Or fastest delivery May 14 - 16. Details
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$20.99 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$20.99
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from and sold by Seattlegoodwill.

Symphony No. 1 / Begrabnisgesang Schicksalslied

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 22 ratings
$20.99
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime
FREE Returns
See all 4 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions
Listen Now with Amazon Music
Brahms, J.: Symphony No. 1 / Schicksalslied / Begrabnisgesang Amazon Music Unlimited
Price
New from Used from
MP3 Music, September 1, 2008
$8.99
$8.99 —
Audio CD, October 14, 2008
$20.99
$18.12 $6.37
Extra Savings Amazon Music offer with this purchase 1 Applicable Promotion
  • Amazon Music offer with this purchase Shop items
Includes FREE MP3 version of this album. Provided by Amazon Digital Services LLC. Terms and Conditions. Does not apply to gift orders. Complete your purchase to save the MP3 version to your music library.
Available at a lower price from other sellers that may not offer free Prime shipping.
Hard Rock apparel
Outerwear, tees, and accessories. Discover the rock shop.

Track Listings

1 Un Poco Sostenuto - Allegro
2 Andante Sostenuto
3 Un Poco Allegretto E Grazioso
4 Adagio - Piã¹ Andante - Allegro Non Troppo, Ma Con Brio

Editorial Reviews

Following on from John Eliot Gardiner's critically acclaimed recordings of the symphonies of Beethoven and Schumann, SDG are proud to b e releasing the first disc in a new series exporing teh music of Johannes Brahms. Recorded live during last autumn's Brahms and his antecedents tour, and showcasing the four symphonies as well as Brahms' major choral works, this series is an important milestond for SDG heralding teh development of the label beyond the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and teh REnaissance choral repertoire which have so far dominated its catlogue. Brahms' large-scale music is brimful of vigour, drama and a driving passion - says John Eliot Gardiner in his introductory notes. One way to release these characteristis is, for the conductor, to set his symphonies in the context of his own superb and often neglected choral music, and that of the old masters he particularly cherishede and studied (Schutz and Bach especially) and of recen heroes of his (Mendelssoh, Schubert, and Schumann). This way, says Gardiner, we are able to gain a new perspective on his symphonic compositions, drawing attention to the intrinsic vocality at the heart of his writing for orchestra. Composing such substantial choral works as Schicksalslied, which also features on this release, gave Brahms invaluable experience of orchestral writing years before he brought his first symphony to fruition. Solemnity, pathos, terror and jubilation are all experienced and encapsulated before they come to a head in the finale of the first symphony.

Product details

  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.73 x 5 x 0.31 inches; 4.37 ounces
  • Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ SDG
  • Original Release Date ‏ : ‎ 2008
  • SPARS Code ‏ : ‎ DDD
  • Date First Available ‏ : ‎ August 15, 2008
  • Label ‏ : ‎ SDG
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B001DCQJ4A
  • Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 22 ratings

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
22 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Marco's Mom
5.0 out of 5 stars Never ceases to amaze
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2013
Verified Purchase
Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir never ever cease to amaze by their high level of professionalism and excellence. Keep it up!
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Caveat Auditor
4.0 out of 5 stars Cosi cosi (non fan tutte)
Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2016
Verified Purchase
I have been a "Jeggy" fan for decades and have just about every recording made with the Monteverdi Choir, Orchestre R&R as well as English Baroque Soloists. First of all, let me get the easy stuff out of the way: The three choral works on this CD are superbly played and sung, aside from being wonderful music which is almost never heard live in concert halls these days (if it was before these days either). These three pieces and performances easily deserve 5 stars and more, and alone make buying the CD worth the money. So I'll skip them by saying they're Jeggy et al. at their finest.

As for the Brahms 1, it leaves me sitting on the fence (fortunately not of the iron spike kind). I have heard this symphony in more live performances and on CDs than I can count. Fortunately, though, the performances I've heard over the years have differed pretty widely, from stodgy, Wagner-like slow performances lasting an hour, to fast ones zipping through it in about 40 minutes (which makes it sound surprisingly Dvorak-like).

Needless to say, the composer apart from Beethoven who sticks his head up faster than you can whack it back down in this symphony is Schumann. If you get the Beethoven and Schumann insider feeling, the performance isn't all bad, and Gardiner does provide that feeling, albeit with some reservations from me.

I wasn't particularly shocked by anything Jeggy did with it. I mean, I know what he stands for, and I've heard his Beethoven, Schumann and Berlioz recordings, among others. And just FYI, I listened to the recording once with Brahms' manuscript score, and once more with the first edition score - the latter being a heck of a lot easier to read than the former - just to check on the purported "authenticity." Having read some "professional" reviews (bwahahahahahaahhaaaa!!! - man, has musical criticism ever sunk in quality since George Bernard Shaw) in blogs and online music magazines, I can't say I felt the rapture of some, nor the disdain of others after listening to the recording.

First, let me state the things which I found interesting and liked. Brahms had a fondness for the valve-less "inatural" horn. We know this because his Horn Trio was written with the natural horn (aka waldhorn) in mind when he wrote it, and it doesn't appear that he changed his mind when he revised a couple of decades later. This preference is a vital clue regarding how Brahms must have wanted his brass section to sound. Today, one almost exclusively hears it played on a valve horn. The valve horn is a son of a beach to play as it is, and the waldhorn is twice as bad as that. Also, the valve horn has a smoother, richer and more equal sound which goes together well with modern-style string instruments and playing. The waldhorn, on the other hand, while quite docile-sounding when played in the piano to mezzo forte range, becomes really gritty in louder passages.

That doesn't sound very good when pitted against a modern grand piano and a violin with all-metal strings and a violinist on auto vibrato. When you add a 1860s state of the art piano and a violin played with gut and steel-wound gut strings without a lot of vibrato all the time, the combination is revelatory. Try listening to the great Harmonia Mundi release from 2008 with 2008, Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov and Teunis van der Zwart  Brahms: Horn Trio, Violin Sonata Op.78, Fantasies Op.116 .

Knowing this recording, I wasn't particularly aghast at the rawness of the brass section and "low-vibrato" string section. In fact, I rather enjoyed this aspect of the performance, because I don't doubt that in terms of pure sound - as opposed to performance - this version is probably closer to what one would have heard at the premiere of the symphony than what you hear in Karajan's version.

I thought the tempi and rubati that Jeggy uses are within the ballpark as well, and come off without too many hitches. Personally, I find the hour-long Wagner-sounding performances of this symphony insufferable, and much prefer the Dvorak-like performances, since they don't make me yawn and look at my watch.

Considering the rather fast tempi, less vibrato in the strings and "natural" brass instruments (I don't know about the trumpets, but I'm pretty sure they're with valves given the chromaticism in their parts), the intonation of the orchestra is surprisingly good and is a testimony to the great instrumentalists Jeggy is able to gather around him (no doubt the pay checks help as well). I did not hear any conspicuous out of tune playing, and that's saying a lot for the Orchestre R&R. Overall, the contrasts between the instrumental sections and a lovely emphasis on the deep strings when they go into the coal cellar was quite pleasing.

Now to the less fortunate results of Jeggy's direction. When you have three orchestral sections (woodwind, brass and strings) that sound so different in timbre, you really have to exert yourself to make the music come together as a conceptual whole. It IS possible, but it is not easy. Jeggy doesn't convince me in this department - I mean, the very word "symphony" is derived from Greek '''''''' (symphonia), meaning "agreement or concord of sound." If conductors can manage to pull together the vast built-in differences in, e.g., Sallinen's symphonies, it is possible in Brahms, even on period instruments. And I know that the Orchestre R&R can do it, since their consort in especially the Schumann and Berlioz recordings is magnificent.

I don't know whether this is a byproduct of the balancing issue mentioned in the paragraph above, but another noticeable demerit that must be laid at Jeggy's door is the lack of overall variance in dynamics. Brahms wrote piano and pianissimo in his score, but for whatever reason, the Orchestre R&R seems unable to drop below a mezzo forte. If you're going to let the brass blow at full blast whenever allowed by the score (and believe me, that's what Jeggy does, especially in the passage in the 1st movement where the orchestra plays piano while the solo horn is required to play forte), it is bliss when an orchestra descends into a calming pianissimo. This element is lacking in the present recording.

Another area in which Jeggy didn't convince me was in the use of slides in the strings that he sanctioned as the maestro di tutti maestri. One is not used to hearing glissandi in orchestral music today, yet when one listens to restored old cylinder recordings from the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries, there is no doubt that glissandi were far more ubiquitous than they are today.

I say this with the caveat that it wasn't possible to record a full symphony orchestra (at least not very satisfactorily, since the earliest surviving intentional recording of music, which was played at the conference introducing the phonograph to London in 1888 was of Handel's Israel in Egypt with "a chorus of 4000 voices recorded with phonograph over 100 yards away;" but I challenge you to listen to it and tell me which part of the oratorio is actually being played) with the equipment available then, but at most a string instrument with piano, maybe a string quartet later on. So while we know - more or less - how, for example, Fritz Kreisler played and Caruso sang around 1900, we don't really have any larger ensemble recordings until right before the start of WW I, and then mostly bands because they were LOUD enough to be picked up the primitive equipment. Orchestral recording doesn't really take off until the 1920s or thereabouts. That's already over 2 generations and 1 world war after the 1st was premiered.

Jeggy has decided to reintroduce modern audiences to the orchestral string glissando in this recording. All well and fine, but as a musician learns pretty early on, if you do something, there has to be an idea and consistency behind what it is you do, because otherwise, it sounds silly. This is sadly lacking in the Orchestre R&R's playing. I counted maybe 3-4 slides in various places, and that is just nonsense. Portamento slides would have been used more often than that or not at all, the latter being the case today (except for very rare instances). When they're used in this recording, it seems arbitrary, and because they're used so seldom, they sound odd when they finally do appear, stylistically correct or not. Sorry, Jeggy, but you'll just have to go back to the ol' drawing board with those things.

There are times when the tempo changes in the orchestra don't come off as naturally as one would like to hear. Rubato is not so much a question of period performance or not, but rather of an organic development in the tempo of the music. You can start out the Marcia funebre in Beethoven's 3rd Adagio assai as indicated, and a good musician will take you from there to presto and back again in the same movement without it sounding unnatural (though it would, obviously, be artificial beyond anything that Beethoven intended). I may be exaggerating a bit, but you get my point. There are times in the Brahms symphony where the developments in tempo make you feel a bit uneasy. On the other hand, one must also say that there are times when Jeggy's slightly anarchically extreme touches make you feel very excited.

All in all, therefore, I'd say that the Brahms 1st is a wash when it comes to good and bad in this performance. Unfortunately, that is not a satisfactory result in a classical music performance, which has to leave you either thrilled or thoroughly disgusted if convincingly performed. Anything but "meh." Jeggy's discography is vast, and it would be strange if there weren't some "meh" performances among the hundreds. But this is where a great artist has to halt him/herself a bit. Just because you can record anything you want anytime you want, SHOULD you record anything anytime you want? The obvious answer is no.

Also, it seems to me that Jeggy is your typical English upper class intellectual. Very erudite and able to express his/her erudition more charmingly and eloquently than just about any other intellectual from other lands, while sounding slightly crazy in a maniacal way. Over the years, Gardiner has let some idee fixes of his run a bit too rampant, which has resulted in some performances that should earn him an honorary Odd Fellowship, if he doesn't already have a Unity Meritorious Service Jewel, that is.

Mental conditions such as this tend to proliferate among artists who have met with much success and admiration: The sycophants are many and the honest friends who counsel wisely are few. Perhaps instead of finding differences between how Gardiner thinks music was performed in the 18th and 19th centuries and get cute about it, he should think more about bridging the gap.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Martha Cummins
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2016
Verified Purchase
One of my favorites.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
J.S.B.
3.0 out of 5 stars Strange
Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2012
It must be said that this is a committed performance, often inspired, and features excellent sound. But I have to question the insistence on using period string technique in Brahms...it just doesn't sound right. Using very little vibrato and little or no portamento is just plain weird for Brahms in my opinion. This becomes especially evident in the second movement, which begs for some feeling, and Gardiner just does not deliver. In sum, I didn't like it. If you must have a more period informed Brahms set, go for the Mackerras/Scottish Chamber set which contains many of the best qualities of this recording but also more flexibility in phrasing, and more romantic feeling.
6 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Brad C
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Recording
Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2020
Brahms 1 is one of my favorite pieces. Gardiner, Monteverdi Choir, and the ORR do not disappoint! I always love when Gardiner adds some choral pieces to his symphonic recordings, and these are wonderful! The orchestra sounds as if the player are making something special, and I always enjoy the fact that they do not sound as if they are simply playing the right notes and rhythms, but add to it. I've been listening to this non-stop for the past few days and is a refreshing version I am happy to add to my collection.
Helpful
 Report
Huntley Dent
4.0 out of 5 stars A period Brahms First, for those who can take it, but the choral pairings are tremendous
Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2008
This is an exciting CD, even for a major non-fan of Gardiner's. It opens with a strikingly dramatic funeral march for chorus, winds, and timpani -- Begrabnigesang, Op. 13 -- that was the first effort of a brilliant 25-year-old to set chorus and orchestra together. I had never heard of it, much less listened to it, but Brahms has discovered the same stern, uplifting Protestant tone that would characterize the German Requiem. Gardiner's exemplary Monteverdi Choir is asked to sing in period style without vibrato, which is irritating, but it suits the work's quasi-archaic monody.

This is followed by a spectacularly vivid account of Mendelssohn's 'Mitten wir in Leben sind,' here expressed with theatrical excitement rather than chruchy reverence. It was written a capaella and gives the Monterverdi choristers a chance to display their perfect intonation and disciplined ensemble. Completing the generous choral portion of the CD is a more familiar Brahms piece, "Schicksalslied" (Song of Destiny) Op. 54, a mature work that rarely makes an impression on me. But here, even though indulging in every quirk of period style, Gardiner manages to inject more vitality than I would have expected -- the faux Baroque manner relieves the music of dated Victorian piety.

Which leaves the main work, the First Sym. The four symphonies have received barely any period-style readings on CD, although there have been some small-scale ones (notably from Charles Mackerras and Daniel Harding) that employ orchestras the size of those in the smaller capitals of Europe in Brahms's day. Here Gardiner loses me -- the blunt, thwacking timpani, skimpy, zingy string sound, and blaring brass set my teeth on edge. The pacing seems rushed and brusque. Gardiner's fans love his music-making for exactly these qualities, however. I can't fault the Revolutionaire et Romantique forces for their ability, so we are spared painfully out-of-tune strings.

Would Brahms recognize any of this as authentic? Plenty of conductors and musicians who played in Brahms's lifetime or who forge a link to the Romantic era went on to make early recordings, none of them remotely in the style esposued by Gardiner. Being full-blown Romantics, like the composer himself, they played in romantic style. Oh well, the choral works are so exciting that they are worth the price of admission on their own. Now the HIPsters can grumble.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
HEY Jean Michel
5.0 out of 5 stars QUE C'EST BEAU !
Reviewed in France on November 6, 2008
Verified Purchase
Exit les interprétations pâteuses de Brahms !
Ici tout est clair, timbré, phrasé mais surtout rythmique ! On entend tout, chaque pupitre, chaque contre-chant, chaque mélodie ! C'est incroyable comme cette symphonie hyper-connue et rabâchée sonne de manière inouïe (au sens premier du terme).
Gardiner n'a pas peur des conflits rythmique, les superpositions et juxtapositions binaire/ternaire sont époustouflantes (IV) et mettent en évidence les aspects rythmiques de la partition trop souvent gommés pas des interprétations marmoréennes et molles (je ne cite personne pour ne pas vexer...). Ici on entend Haydn, là Bruckner, et un peu partout Schumann...

Quand aux oeuvres chorales accompagnant la symphonie, elles sont à l'avenant !
Le Monteverdi Choir est d'une splendeur sonore exceptionnelle, les pupitres homogènes et très caractérisés, on comprend le moindre mot, etc. L'accompagnement est d'une somptuosité instrumentale à couper le souffle.
Il suffit d'écouter les cuivres et les bois dans le Begräbnisgesang pour s'en rendre compte (oeuvre qui doit beaucoup à l'excellente connaissance que Brahms avait de la musique allemande du XVIIème siècle), la montée en intensité et en puissance est des plus réussie. J'y entends Praetorius, Schütz et le Berliner Requiem de Kurt Weill !

Je manque de superlatifs... et bonne nouvelle : la jaquette du CD annonce déjà les 3 autres symphonies... en 3 disques séparé ! ce qui laisse à supposer d'autres heureuses surprises en compléments !

PS : pour ce qui est du contrechant des mesures 19 à 22 du troisième mouvement... désolé mais moi je l'entends fort bien ! encore faut-il reconnaître le son d'une clarinette (ou avoir un bon lecteur de CD) !
7 people found this helpful
 Report
Mozart K.488
5.0 out of 5 stars 想像していたより良かったです
Reviewed in Japan on October 26, 2008
Verified Purchase
輸入盤と知りつつ、早く聴きたくて購入した、ピリオド楽器による"ブラ１"。
個人的には、ピリオド楽器による演奏に拒絶感はない。
アーノンクールは大好きだし、ガーディナーとORRのベートーヴェン全集も愛聴している。

このガーディナーとORRによる"ブラ１"も相変わらず堅実で真摯な演奏という印象を持った。テンポはピリオド楽器故に早め。第１＆４楽章が特に気に入った。気持ちよいほど颯爽とした第一楽章の出だし＆ナチュラルホルンによる有名なテーマもGOOD。しかし、第３楽章の管楽器による掛け合いの部分に若干物足りなさを感じてしまったのは、ピリオド楽器の特性故しょうがないか。あと問題の弦によるポルタメントの多用にも好き嫌いが分かれるかもしれない。

あと、ジャケットがとても洒落ていていい。作りも「CDケース」というのではなく、一冊の「本」のような体裁になっているのが、いかにも学者肌なガーディナーらしくて気に入った。
続編も是非聴き続けたい。
5 people found this helpful
 Report
Mr P.J.Goodman
5.0 out of 5 stars but have enjoyed this recording of the symphony and other works
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 16, 2015
Verified Purchase
Not previously familiar with Brahms, but have enjoyed this recording of the symphony and other works.
One person found this helpful
 Report
shadow_dance
3.0 out of 5 stars カヒーゼ／トビリシ響によるブラームス
Reviewed in Japan on March 23, 2013
Verified Purchase
グルジアの名指揮者ヤンスク・カヒーゼ（Djansug またはJansug Kakhidze 1936-2002）と手兵トビリシ響によるブラームスです。
この人はDjansugと書かれたりJansugだったり、日本語だとさらにヤンスク／ヤンスグ／ジャンスグ…カヒーゼ／カヒッゼ…等々検索し難く、コレクターの人は大変そうです。

ドイツのMazur MediaがHDC(High Definition Classics)レーベルとして廉価盤で出した20枚程のカヒーゼ指揮による演奏のうちの1枚で、ブックレットの表紙が変わっただけの同一アルバムもあります。（ Symphony 1 / Tragic Overture ）

録音内容は以下の通り。
Brahms：
1〜4.Symhpony No.1 in C minor, Op.68　　13:54 / 9:22 / 4:56 / 17:48
5.Tragic Overture for Orchestra, Op.81　　11:50
　Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra / Djansug Kakhidze (Cond)

録音年は不明ですが1990年代の録音ではないかと思います。音は悪くもなく全く視聴に問題ありません。やや残響が多めでしょうか。

トビリシ響はカヒーゼと運命をともにした楽団ですが、機能性も悪くなく（たまに重く感じる事もありますが）東欧の地方オケなどと比べれば格段に上手い団体だったと思います。それがカヒーゼの手腕によるものだったのか楽員のポテンシャルだったのか、他の指揮者による演奏を聴いた事がないので分かりません。このアルバムの2曲もカヒーゼ指揮全般に言える至って正統的な演奏で（チャイコは別）、古き善き時代の解釈とほんの少しの現代的エッセンスを加えたような演奏で、安心して聴けるロマン溢れる曲となっています。その分、このアルバムでなければという何かを探すのに苦労しますね。モッサリはしておらず意外とスッキリとした印象でした。

辺境オケ・ソ連系指揮者をの演奏を期待すると肩透かしですが、なかなか立派な演奏だと思います。があまりにも異演の多いこのアルバム、いまのところお気に入りにはなっていませんので星3つ。
Report
Sagittarius
4.0 out of 5 stars Brahms-entschlackt
Reviewed in Germany on October 13, 2008
Verified Purchase
"Ich habe mich schon lange mit dem Gedanken getragen, eine Brahms-Reihe einzuspielen. Nachdem wir die kompletten Beethoven- und Schumann-Sinfonien für die Deutsche Grammophon eingespielt hatten, war es folgerichtig als nächstes Projekt Brahms zu wählen. 1999 hatte ich einige Brahmseinspielungen für Philips gemacht und davor 1989 das Deutsche Requiem aufgenommen. Außerdem zählte Brahms schon immer zu meinen Lieblingskomponisten. So war es logisch, dass ich diese Arbeit weiterführen wollte. Außerdem sehe ich viele Gemeinsamkeiten zwischen dem Musikverständnis von Brahms und Bach. Obwohl Brahms 180 Jahre nach Bach lebte, verbindet sie viel, und das hat nicht nur damit zu tun, dass sie beide aus Norddeutschland kamen und Lutheraner waren. Nein, die Gemeinsamkeiten finden sich auch in ihrem Kompositionsstil, in ihrem Umgang mit Kontrapunktik, ihrer komplexen Behandlung von Harmonie, die sowohl intellektuell anspruchsvoll als auch sehr emotional und ausdrucksstark ist. Dieser Aspekt fasziniert mich sehr. Ich denke, dass das Verständnis von Brahms Musik durch den ständigen Vergleich mit den Werken Richard Wagners sehr gelitten hat. Der Versuch, ihn im Stile Wagners aufzuführen, also mit einem groß besetzten Orchester, das einen dicken, saucenartigen Klang erzeugt, der alles überdeckt, zerstört bei Brahms viel. Ich denke, es steckt in seiner Musik sehr viel mehr drin, weshalb sich ein Perspektivwechsel in der Interpretation lohnt."

Soweit Gardiner in einem aktuellen Interview.

Perspektivwechsel bei Brahms ist sicher interessant, aber wenn man ehrlich, nicht wirklich neu. Deutlich radikaler als Gardiner hat dies vor Jahr und Tag Norrington gemacht. Mit noch schlankeren Zugang zu Brahms.Noch durchsichtiger. Noch weniger Streicher-lastigem Klangbild.
Wenn ich etwa den Begräbnisgesang in der Interpretation von Norrington und Gardiner vergleiche, gefällt mir erster deutlich besser. Mit zügigerem Tempo vermeidet er genau die " dicke Sauce" von der Gardiner im Interview spricht. Nicht dass seine Interpretation eine solche hätte, aber seine Interpretation kommt deutlich behäbiger daher als diejenige von Norrington. Und wenn Gardiner auf die Bezüge auf Schütz verweist, Brahms war ein grosser Kenner von dessen Musik, ist der Zugang von Norrington diesem Bezug angemessener.

Die Aufnahme von Gardiner ist eine Alternative zum hochromantischen Zugang, aber mir ist die konsequentere Alternative die vorzugswürdigere.
6 people found this helpful
 Report