Today I bought the latest issues of the Gramophone and of the BBC Music magazine.
Both of them provide reviews of the new LSO Live recording of Brahms 2nd Symphony and Double Concerto conducted by Bernard Haitink.
In the Gramophone, Richard Osborne calls it "an exceptional new disc", and says of the recording that it is "rich and immediate" and that it "brings out in gratifying measure the tactile quality of Brahms' writing." The symphony he calls an "imposing and beautifully shaded" performance. And Gramophone editor James Jolly picks this disc as one of his top ten recommendations of the month.
In the BBC's Music magazine, Misha Donat says this:
With Haitink at the helm of the LSO, this ought to be a sure-fire success. Alas, try as I did, I couldn't work up much enthusiasm for what are actually rather middle-of-the-road performances that seldom catch fire. Certainly, the Second Symphony is one ofBrahms's more relaxed works, but it's not without its darker moments - the fortissimo passages in the first movement's development section, for instance; or the minor-mode central episode of the Adagio, with its passionate string tremolos. In Haitink's hands everything is neatly in place, but the music's drama and intensity are underplayed. …
The Double Concerto, he says:
… fares rather better, thanks to some sensitive playing by the orchestra's leader and principal cellist, Gordan Nikolitch and Tim Hugh. But again the finale is short on exuberance. …
But he didn't like the recording.
This new release is not helped by an over-analytical recording, liberally laced with echo, which lays every detail bare, but conveys little idea of the overall sound-picture.
The reason I was so interested to see what they thought of this recording is that I already possess it. So what am I supposed to think? Am I to enjoy it, or not to enjoy it? Am I to be delighted by the richness and immediacy of the recording, or disgusted that it conveys little idea of the overall sound-picture?
My God. I'm going to have to decide for myself.
