Johannes Brahms - The Symphonies - Simon Rattle, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

 

Release Date: October 6, 2009 Label: EMI Classics Number of discs: 3 Composer: Johannes Brahms Performer: Simon Rattle, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra  cd info/ buy

Review:

Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker have recorded the complete symphonies of Johannes Brahms live in a series of concerts from the Philharmonie, Berlin. This is a major recording of music that is central to the tradition of the 127-year-old orchestra, and is bound to be as groundbreaking and revelatory as Rattle's earlier recording of the complete Beethoven symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic. The combination of the incomparable sound and musicianship of the Berliner Philharmoniker and the iconoclastic, visionary approach that has characterized Sir Simon's music-making over the past thirty years is likely to result in a set of recordings that will challenge, invigorate, and refresh this well-known and cherished repertoire. Rattle's first Brahms recording with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Ein deutsches Requiem, won critical accolades and both Grammy® and Classic FM/Gramophone Awards. Now Sir Simon and the Orchestra have committed to disc the complete Brahms symphonies, recorded in concert at Berlin's Philharmonie in Autumn of 2008. In the words of Die Zeit, "Simon Rattle has finally dared to tackle Brahms with the Berliner Philharmoniker. He combines Furtwängler's monumentality with Karajan's beautiful sound . . .". Rattle confirms that performing these works with the Berliner Philharmoniker, which has been hailed as the world's greatest Brahmsian, orchestra "gives you a possibility of colours that you have almost nowhere else. . . . I can say to this orchestra, `I need a different sound' and the sound changes immediately."