For the Brahms violin concerto Isabelle Faust has fashioned an interpretation based on her extensive study of the performance style and instructions of Joseph Joachim (Brahms’ collaborator and the work’s dedicatee). Her tempos are markedly faster than usual, lending the music a stirring energy and emotional directness. This extends to Faust’s taut phrasing and crisp rhythms and accents, delivered with a tone that can be thin (and nearly evaporates in pianissimo passages) but also successfully cuts through the orchestral texture when necessary.
Not that this is hard to do given the unfortunately-named Mahler Chamber Orchestra’s small-scaled, un-Brahmsian sound (I’ll grant that the hard stick timpani gives a certain edge to the finale’s dramatic passages, but that’s more Beethoven than Brahms). Conductor Daniel Harding gives pride of place to the woodwinds (the wind-band opening of the Adagio is exquisitely done) but keeps the brass on a tight leash, muzzling it whenever there is a climax (the trumpets sound positively timid at the dramatic recapitulation of the main theme). Then there’s Harding’s tiresomely clipped playing style that saws off note values at phrase endings. This is supposed to be Brahms the great romantic composer? Want more strangeness? Faust uses the rarely heard Busoni cadenza, whose pernicious timpani rolls give an entirely different character to the music, one that meanders between Berlioz and Nielsen.
The coupled String Sextet No. 2 is more readily recommendable. The collected players don’t produce the full, rich, and resonant sound of the Verdi Quartett on Hänssler, but their lighter touch and vigorous rendition reveals the youthful Brahms’ energy and ardor. The sound is clear and detailed for the Sextet, slightly less so for the concerto.
The verdict? Well, if you feel you’ve heard the Brahms violin concerto so many times that you go on auto-pilot, this recording will definitely snap your attention back to the music (but not always in a good way). However, if you just want to enjoy the piece for its own sake there are many fine alternatives, with Heifetz, Oistrakh, Mutter (Karajan), and Repin among the standouts.
