As Brahms Symphony cycles go, this one’s a bit of a dud. It begins pretty well, with Colin Davis leading a taut and energetic account of the First Symphony with upbeat tempos, clear textures, and smooth-edged phrasing. In his bucolic rendering of Symphony No. 2 Davis is more attuned to the music’s textural nuance than to its forward momentum, while No. 3 is bogged down by leaden tempos in the first and last movements (likewise in the Tragic and Academic Festival Overtures). The Bavarian Radio Symphony provides its usual tonal beauty and maintains impressive ensemble integrity, but even this can’t redeem Davis’ narcoleptic conducting in the Fourth, where the slack rhythms, inert phrasing, and overall lack of color make you understand Clara Schumann’s initial misgivings about the work.
Davis snaps out of his doldrums for Piano Concerto No. 1 with a gripping presentation of the dramatic opening that sets the stage for Gerhard Oppitz’s fluid, virtuosic pianism. Oppitz turns majestic and impassioned for the central slow movement, qualities he carries over to Concerto No. 2, which benefits from his refreshing alacrity and clever balancing of the work’s classical and romantic character. Finally, Kyoko Takezawa’s labored playing puts a bit of a drag on Brahms’ already cumbrous Violin Concerto–especially after hearing Heifetz’s nimble-fingered version, recently reissued (again) on RCA. The recorded sound ranges from vivid for the Piano Concertos to murky for Symphony No. 4. With Brahms symphony sets available from Solti, Haitink, Karajan, and especially Dohnanyi, it’s hard to consider Davis as a viable option, unless you feel Oppitz’s engaging concerto recordings to be worth this collection’s budget price.
