TOSCANINI CONDUCTS BRAHMS
*****************************************************************************************************
Johannes BRAHMS (1833 - 1897)
Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op.45 (1868)
Herbert Janssen (baritone)
Vivian Della Chiesa (soprano)
Westminster Choir
NBC Symphony Orchestra
Arturo Toscanini, conductor
Playing time: 73'05"
Recorded 24 January 1943 – with broadcast commentaries
******************************************************************************************************
The intense concentration and focus of this 1943 Toscanini concert, his only performance of the German Requiem that has been preserved, is the converse of Mengelberg's more intuitive interpretive approach. Arturo Toscanini conducts the Brahms German Requiem (Guild CD) The result is a constant tension between leisurely, steady tempos that suggest a patient unfolding filled with lyrical affection and the tensile strength and crisp articulation that strain to leap forward with constant bursts of energy but never do. Perhaps by refusing to take a point of view, Toscanini suggests an inherent complexity to Brahms' conception, which contains both elements; while others vary their readings to convey both aspects in the appropriate sections, Toscanini's consistency leaves much to the imagination, making us work harder than we might wish to infer the emotional content.
Indeed, he often seems to thwart our expectations – an ardently sung and highly operatic Vth Movement is drained of its usual sense of comfort, and the clipped articulation leading up to the VI Movement's fugue falls flat when the fugue itself reverts to a rather reflexive vantage. Some may regard Toscanini's manner as a model of sophistication and integrity, mostly refusing to inject himself into the splendor of the music itself and enabling its structure to emerge in our minds, but it may strike others as too impersonal and abstract; I tend to prefer a more proactive approach that directly communicates a deeper range of human feeling.
Peter GUTMANN - http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics4/brahmsrequiem.html
***********************************************************************************************
FLAC (single file)
| 
