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Compelling Concerto Trio Captivates   November 6, 2003

This is certainly a candidate for essential of these two magnificent concertos.


The double concerto is the soul of the German Requiem   August 8, 2003
  6 out of 14 found this review helpful

At the end of his life, Brahms composed his last concerto, his last symphonic work, as a testament, and we have to think of his German Requiem to understand it. The cello is the comforting voice of the mother that is preparing him for death. The violin is the weeping voice of the mother that is suffering the death she is witnessing. The orchestra is the violent and inhumane world that rolls over everything like a steamroller. Cello and violin are the call of the mother-earth, of the deeper life that comes from the fields, the forest, the mountains, even when the violin remembers Clara Schumann and becomes an echo of the waltzes in the salons, of the marvellous woman in her brilliant dress whirling around like the whirlwind that is trying to charm the composer into entering the danse macabre that this waltz becomes. But how can we evade the crushing world of industrial frenzy ? Is there any other way than escaping into the darkness of the forest, the sombreness of the vast marshes in the night, if your soul can capture the wings of some angel or bird, the wings of the violin that is teasing you with its air-free lightness, but even so can you get away from that waltzing salon ? The second movement takes you on some sea or ocean in some boat or ship that is crossing to some distant country. You can feel the movement of the waves. Or is a night full of flowing dreams ? The third movement takes you back to earth and light village dances, and then, after the harbor, the city explodes again and the violin weeps at a certain lost virginity, at the loss of life seen as the communion with the living universe, the cosmic flow of time and space. Here everything becomes chaotic. And we come back to a crushing world from which the composer tries to escape by getting down into his own soul, into the dialogue of his dual vision of the mother whose two sides are the violin and the cello, whose head is the violin and whose tail is the cello. But where can salvation be when you are chased by a frentic world ? Or is it possible to escape by joining this frenzy ? All solutions are tried and tested. But there is no way out except... The final measures are just crushing any attempt to escape and turning the escapee into powder under the hammering of the finale.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University of Perpignan


A wonderful version indeed!!!   June 20, 2003
  9 out of 11 found this review helpful

I used to say that I hated the Triple Concerto until I bought this version! It's amazing what an interpretation can do to the opinion one has of a certain work!

Richter, Oistrakh and Rostropovich under the wise direction of Karajan make wonders in this recording. Who cares if it is true that Richter was never satisfied with it and wanted some of the movements to be recorded again. This recording proves the very high standard of all of these gifted musicians and the beauty of Beethoven's music, even if this concerto isn't as highly rated as some of his other works!

Besides all this, the coupling in this recording is also fantastic. Brahms' Double Concerto is played superbly by Oistrakh and Rostropovich under the direction of George Szell. I was quite happy with the newer version I had of this concerto (Kremer and Maisky under Bernstein), and although the sound is better in that version, the beauty and quality of this older one is unquestionable!

EMI's "Great Recordings of the Century" is without a doubt one of the best series of low priced classical music CDs in the market right now. I've bought many and have never been dissapointed!


GREAT GERMAN COMPOSERS BY GREAT PERFORMERS   August 29, 2002
  7 out of 15 found this review helpful

Beethoven can be sweet in the strings of Oistrakh, Rostropovich, and Richter, three Russians with the piano of Greek-Austrian-German Karajan. Richter was of German descent. Oistrakh, I feel, is unjustly neglected, and this Great Recordings of the Century resurrects him and the others.
I have over 90 recordings of Beethoven that I have listened to this last year, and fifty Brahms. For these selections none really tops them. In hia prime Karajan has most of the classical market in Germany and a good deal world-wide.
Beethoven's Allegro at nearly 18 minutes is a heavenly length. He is my greatest composer and man among composers. The Largo is something I anticipate as Beetoven circles around his themes.
Brahms Double Concerto is double the pleasure. Szell's doesn't sell well, but he was a great conductor for Cleveland. Brahms fits my idea of what a classical composer should be. There is meat there. I have a feeling the participants enjoyed recording as much as I enjoy their recording.


Weak Beethoven Triple, phenomenal Brahms Double   September 10, 2001
  6 out of 8 found this review helpful

I was somewhat disappointed by the Beethoven Triple in this CD. The soloists and conductor struggle to come to consensus on the tempo throughout the piece, and in many spots, it's apparent that the soloists give up their own flow to adjust to each other. Whether the soloists or the conductor has the "right" tempo is debatable (I personally prefer Karajan's choice of tempo), but when they don't agree, then neither makes sense. I also wish Karajan and the Berlin Phil would let the soloists' sounds come through more.
On the other hand, the Brahms Double performance ranks as the best that I've heard. Just hearing Rostro's opening cello recitative makes the whole CD worth it, and better yet, there's no decline in intensity, emotional depth, or clarity throughout the rest of the concerto. Places which I thought were impossible to articulate when played with a full-scale orchestra came through with amazing ease. The third movement is at a slower tempo than other recordings I've heard, but somehow it makes sense when played with such warmth and impeccable technique.