Suggestion for Brahms

There is a two CD set by Hyperion featuring the Florestan Trio doing the complete piano trios. They also include the horn trio and the clarinet trio. Susan Tomes is the pianist and is quite good IMO.

I highly recommend that anyone interested in Brahms put sonics aside and go here to obtain Toscanini's incredible 1940 performance of the Symphony No. 1. This performance, IMO, towers over many others I have heard, and the work, IMO, is one of the supreme masterpieces of the symphonic literature.

I recently listened to this on my main system, and found the 1940 mono recording to be surprisingly listenable, and to not detract significantly from the performance, which I can only describe as magical.

Among early mono recordings, I also recommend Kathleen Ferrier's 1947 performance of the Alto Rhapsody, which I have on a Decca LP.

For good sonics + good performance, Uru975's mention of Hyperion prompts me to say that that is an excellent label generally, and you may want to peruse their catalog of Brahms recordings here. Also, you are unlikely to go wrong with any of the recordings of his chamber works that have been issued on the Harmonia Mundi France label, or, for that matter, with pretty much anything else on that label.

Regards,
-- Al

Kathleen Ferrier's performance of the Alto Rhapsody... I had forgotten I was looking for that one. Thanks Al.

I'm a Kathleen Ferrier fan, not a big Brahms fan, but I would recommend this music and performance:

Sonatas Op. 120, Scherzo

These are the viola version (Brahms also wrote a version for clarinet) and the performance by Ursula Oppens is passionate and intense.

For the First Piano Concerto, my top choice is the superb Curzon/Szell/London Symphony performance on London/Decca. Another very fine version is with Serkin/Szell/Cleveland Orch. on Sony(cd) or Columbia(vinyl lp).

In the Second Piano Concerto, the Serkin/Szell/Cleveland is, I feel, a classic.

Try also the wonderful Double Concerto with Heifetz, Piatigorsky and Wallenstein on RCA or the Schneiderhan, Starker and Fricsay on DG.

Excellent complete sets with The Four Symphonies include any of the following: Klemperer/Philharmonia Orch. on EMI, Solti/Chicago Symp. on London/Decca and the more recent Simon Rattle conducting the Berlin Philharmonic on EMI. Some outstanding individual renditions other than some of those from the above sets include: Symphony #1---Walter/Columbia Sym. on Sony Symp.#2---Kertesz/Vienna Phil. on London vinyl lp because the cd is currently out of print. Symp.#3---Jochum/London Symphony on EMI. Symp.#4---Reiner/Royal Philharmonic on Chesky. If you don't mind monophonic sound, the Jochum/Berlin Philharmonic set of the Four Brahms Symphonies on DG Originals is marvelous, and its sound is really quite good.

Brahms' Violin Concerto: Either of these two are gems: Heifetz/Reiner/Chicago Symphony on RCA or Oistrakh/Klemperer/French Nat'l Radio Symp. on EMI.

Try at least one of his chamber pieces. The Clarinet Quintet brims with an autumnal presence. The interpretation by Karl Leister with the Leipzig String Quartet on the MD&G label is glorious.

I'd also like to suggest you listen to a different but very satisfying work by Dvorak, a composer who was a good friend of Brahms: Symphony No. 8, with Istvan Kertesz conducting the London Symphony Orchestra on London/Decca or Rafael Kubelik conducting the Berlin Philharmonic on DG.

I would agree with those who suggest that the best performances on LP are not necessarily the ones with the best sonics. For instance, a great many orchestral musicians will tell you that one of the definitive performances of the four symphonies is the old Szell/Cleveland set, released on CBS Great Performances, which are not exactly known for their sonics. But those performances are superb.