In the CD booklet note Nikolaus Harnoncourt goes into some detail about old-fashioned bowing techniques used by early conductors when performing the Brahms symphonies. He asserts that these bowings produce a string sound that is greatly “melodic”, yet “comparatively quiet”. Harnoncourt’s application of this technique results in a smallish string sound that makes the usually gripping opening of Symphony No. 1 sound strangely enervated, while No. 3’s first movement exhibits that “mincing” quality familiar from period-performance style, and several passages of No. 4 (the Finale’s opening in particular) are bereft of dynamic tension.
Harnoncourt does redeem himself somewhat by exposing a wealth of harmonic and motivic detail (in the Tragic Overture especially)–so much so that I often found myself marveling anew at Brahms’ compositional genius. The Berlin Philharmonic plays beautifully throughout, sounding in these 1996-97 recordings like its old, distinctive self (superior to the more generalized playing on the recent Simon Rattle set). Teldec’s recording is up to its usual excellent standards. The bottom line is: if you want radical chic, get Harnoncourt; if you want Berlin, get Karajan; if you want Brahms, get the listed alternatives.
