1975
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Following in Harnoncourt’s footsteps, Gardiner is taking some HIP sensibilities to the Concertgebouworkest, but nurtures the warmth and depth of their sound. In Harnoncourt’s case, that delivered some great Mozart and Haydn, and Gardiner has delivered a fantastic Brahms cycle. Very realistic sound, as well. not overblown but fair in the bass, and giving the Wilsons a good workout.
Cheers
EJ
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Bloomsbury Theatre, London
The Lost Music of Auschwitz
03 June 2025–07 June 2025, 7:30 pm–7:30 pm
Sheesh - Qobuz and DG are making these seem like impulse purchases. No - not just “like.” I wasn’t looking for another Brahms cycle, but $10.79 for hi res (for Sublime members)? How could I pass it up?
Actually, I was not satisfied with any of my hi res Brahms cycles (although I have yet to play the Honeck Pittsburgh 4th). And the cycle I play most frequently is Mackerras, so this should make a good comparison.
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I think the 1st and 4th in this Brahms set are lovely. The slow movement of the 4th tugs at the heartstrings a bit! I haven’t listed to 2 and 3 yet, but so far a sensitive and intelligent reading, well recorded.
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big fan of Hahn. She’s one of the current greats I believe still striving for that balance between musical expression and virtuosity. Certainly different from the Vengerov’s playing which I like very much too on Ysaye.
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I went and looked at this cycle on the river and found this in a long review
As for the interpretations, they are typical, workaday Gardinering. Stringy in the sense of scrawny, hasty, repeats taken, devoid of charm, bony of frame, deprived of poetry, basically kind of strung out. They got me thinking of women’s underwear, does one admire the G-string, or see it as basically meaningless, flagrantly indiscreet? One could never describe Gardiner’s, or the works of any of the historically-informed period practise brigade, as sexy. Personally, I like my knickers to be proper panties, whatever the cut or the embroidery, and not an eye-patch with some wire at the back. Likewise, I think there is more to a symphony than the kind of soulless exercises, the scratchy garage band soundings, produced by Gardiner and his ilk, especially in this redundant de trop recycling.
I had to smile! I have the Chailly cycle which I enjoy a great deal..
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I managed to get this for a very reasonable price recently and it has arrived today. I will work my way through it slowly as Reger is someone I have heard occasionally on Radio 3 and felt I needed to explore more.
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I had to think for a moment about which Gardiner. I’ve posted recently about both his beethoven and Brahms cycles. He is admittedly controversial, but I like his Beethoven.
I have a number that I like including Abbado, Klemperer, Walter (both mono and stereo), and Mackerras. Karajan 70s is growing on me.
I purchased the Chailly cycle on Blu-Ray when it was released, but it was defective and wouldn’t play.
But what did the writer really think about the cycle.
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yes, sorry, I thought I was clear that it was Gardiner’s Brahms cycle. But the review, which is the only one and quite long, did just tickle me. Usually one star reviews are because the disc was faulty or late or whatever. Nothing to do with the actual item, but here he just went for it. I’m with @Wugged_Woy. What did he really think about the cycle?
The Chailly is worth a listen. It is probably slightly lusher and fuller that Karajan but my ears are mine and you may hear something different. And I do generally like Gardiner and I am a fan of his Bach and Robert Schumann symphonies for instance, I just don’t really think I need another Brahms cycle…yet! I have all that Reger to get through first and lots of recently acquired lesser known opera! ( I really like the Don Pasquale!.. see recent post in recent ads)
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Clear enough. It just took me a moment.
I like Gardiner’s Bach and Handel. I saw him conduct the Brahms 2nd years ago with his HIP orchestra and didn’t like it. But that was in significant part due to the strange acoustics (IMO) of the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona.
And it wasn’t the Concertgebouw. 
New release from the Cleveland Orchestra house label. Unfortunately, the label stopped releasing SACD’s so I had to stream on Qobuz. Oh well, but always exciting to see a new Julius Eastman recording. Performance and SQ (despite the format) are excellent.
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YouTube selected me to show this vid:
A very good pianist, performance and composition.
The piano should not be overlooked. It’s a Schimmel konzert upright and these outperform many grand pianos.
They should at 30k!
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It is indeed. Although anything by Vikingur Olafsson is worth listening to in my opinion.
For a single track, I think his playing of the arrangement of the Back Organ Sonata No. 4 Adagio is something else altogether (on his album simply titled “Johann Sebastian Bach”). Played loudly on my system, it is just sublime.
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Heh. I play that piece often after the sermon on organ. People who have a sense of art, culture or liturgy like it, but it upsets people who don’t have that understanding since it’s just a bit on the long side.
That arrangement of the Mozart “Laudate Dominum” is on his album From Afar. He plays the whole track list twice - once on a grand piano and once on an upright piano (although his idea of an upright piano is more like a grand piano standing on its end than the upright I have at my house!). It is a lovely album.
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