Otto Klemperer’s Brahms needs no introduction. It remains a classic reference edition, one of the very few complete cycles with absolutely no weak links. It’s customary to call these performances “granitic”, an adjective that certainly applies to the First Symphony but doesn’t begin to describe the swift and thrilling finale of the Fourth, the grand but impulsive Third (with its first-movement repeat in place), or the warmly lyrical Second. In general Klemperer’s unsentimental but always gripping approach to this music practically defines the word “idiomatic”. The Alto Rhapsody with Christa Ludwig also is one of the great ones, while the shorter works share the same virtues as the symphonies. The sound shows its age a bit, but it has been well remastered in this latest transfer (which differs only marginally from previous issues). A Great Recording of the Century indeed! [4/28/2004]
