Composer: Johannes Brahms
Performer: Gerhard Oppitz, Mark Kaplan, David Geringas, WDR Rundfunkchor Köln
Orchestra: SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg
Conductor: Michael Gielen
Number of Discs: 5
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: SWR Music
Catalogue: SWR19022CD
Release: 2016
Size: 1.37 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
CD 01
01. Tragic Overture, Op. 81
Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68
02. I. Un poco sostenuto – Allegro
03. II. Andante sostenuto
04. III. Un poco allegretto e grazioso
05. IV. Finale: Adagio – Più andante – Allegro non troppo, ma con brio
CD 02
Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73
01. I. Allegro non troppo
02. II. Adagio non troppo
03. III. Allegretto grazioso (quasi andantino) – Presto ma non assai – Tempo I
04. IV. Allegro con spirito
Variations on a theme by Haydn for orchestra, Op. 56a ‘St Anthony Variations’
05. Chorale St. Antoni: Andante
06. Variation I: Poco più animato
07. Variation II: Più vivace
08. Variation III: Con moto
09 .Variation IV: Andante con moto
10. Variation V: Vivace
11. Variation VI: Vivace
12. Variation VII: Grazioso
13. Variation VIII: Presto non troppo
14. Finale: Andante
CD 03
Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90
01. I. Allegro con brio
02. II. Andante
03. III. Poco Allegretto
04. IV. Allegro
Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98
05. I. Allegro non troppo
06. II. Andante moderato
07. III. Allegro giocoso – Poco meno presto
08. IV. Allegro energico e passionato – Più allegro
CD 04
Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15
01. I. Maestoso
02. II. Adagio
03. III. Rondo: Allegro non troppo
04. Schicksalslied, Op. 54
CD 05
Double Concerto for Violin & Cello in A minor, Op. 102
01. I. Allegro
02. II. Andante
03. III. Vivace ma non troppo
Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25 (Arr. A. Schoenberg for Orchestra)
04. I. Allegro
05. II. Intermezzo
06. III. Andante con moto
07. IV. Rondo alla zingarese
This third volume of our Michael Gielen Edition is devoted to music by Johannes Brahms, with all the recordings taken from the archives of the Southwest German Radio (SWR). The recordings were made between April 1989 and January 2005 in the Hans-Rosbaud Studio Baden-Baden. The programme comprises Brahms’s four symphonies, the First Piano Concerto, the Double Concerto for violin and cello, the Haydn Variations and the Tragic Overture.
Michael Gielen enjoyed a felicitous involvement with Brahms’s chamber music, particularly the late piano works where, in Schoenberg’s words, the ‘progressive Brahms’ is most evident. Maybe that’s why Brahms’s First Piano Quartet, orchestrated by Arnold Schoenberg, sounds so ravishingly sharp under Gielen’s direction.
The three distinguished soloists in the two concertos are Gerhard Oppitz, Mark Kaplan and David Geringas.
The solemnity of the Schicksalslied calls for sincere commitment on the part of the conductor. Working as one, the Symphony Orchestra of Baden-Baden and Freiburg and Michael Gielen achieve an interpretation of this work that is both balanced and comforting.