Bruno Walter Edition - Brahms: Symphonies No 2 & 3

$11.98
Label
Sony Masterworks
Release Date
October 31, 1995
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      BRUCKNER, ANTON
    • PERFORMER
      Bruno Walter
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      October 31, 1995
    • UPC
      074646447123
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      SMK64471
    • LABEL
      Sony Masterworks
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Orchestral & Symphonic
    Works ⌄

    1. I. Allegro non troppo

      Composer: Johannes Brahms

      Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Bruno Walter

    2. II. Adagio non troppo - L'istesso tempo, ma grazioso

      Composer: Johannes Brahms

      Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Bruno Walter

    3. III. Allegretto grazioso (quasi andantino) - Presto ma non assai

      Composer: Johannes Brahms

      Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Bruno Walter

    4. IV. Allegro con spirito

      Composer: Johannes Brahms

      Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Bruno Walter

    5. I. Allegro con brio - Un poco sostenuto

      Composer: Johannes Brahms

      Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Bruno Walter

    6. II. Andante

      Composer: Johannes Brahms

      Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Bruno Walter

    7. III. Poco allegretto

      Composer: Johannes Brahms

      Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Bruno Walter

    8. IV. Allegro - Un poco sostenuto

      Composer: Johannes Brahms

      Ensemble: Columbia Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Bruno Walter


The Columbia Symphony may not have been a first-class orchestra, but Bruno Walter trained to do the right things, and it responded with first-class accounts of the Brahms symphonies. While there are instances of less-than-crack ensemble, there is also some very fine first-desk playing, and the performances as a whole are marked by a natural feeling of movement, phrasing, and expression. Walter’s approach to the music is kindly, caring, wonderfully whole – sunny but not overly brilliant, warm but not overly heated, sincere but not overly impassioned. Anyone who thinks that means the conductor was slow, shapeless, or indulgent should listen. There is thrust here, and plenty of momentum. The recordings are closely miked and somewhat bass-heavy, but in Sony’s 20-bit remastering the sound is wonderfully alive and direct. – Ted Libbey, author of The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection