Bruno Walter - Brahms: Orchestral Music (2019) [Hi-Res]

This important release documents Bruno Walter’s first Brahms cycle with the New York Philharmonic from the early 1950s. Much ink has been spilled over the fact that Walter’s Columbia Symphony Orchestra recordings offered a slower, softer, duller interpretive stance, but now that we have the facts before us we can see that, typically, this was only a partial truth.

The First Symphony erupts with extraordinary power, and Walter maintains the initial tension right through the entire first movement. His inner movements flow with effortless grace while the epic finale really gets moving in the allegro sections, culminating in a confidently grand coda. The Second Symphony is better still. Walter always conducted this work especially well, and his “no dawdling” approach works wonders in music that often bogs down in a rhythmic quagmire. With a flowing opening, perfectly judged tempos in the slow movement and Allegretto grazioso, and a finale that is simply the last word in disciplined excitement (first sound sample). Why doesn’t anyone play it like this anymore? Here’s a performance no Brahms lover can afford to miss.

Walter’s Third Symphony, in its CSO version, still stands among the fastest ever recorded, and for sheer excitement coupled with a totally idiomatic grasp of the work’s symphonic logic it remains one of a small handful of truly great performances. This early one is faster still: nine minutes in the first movement, seven and a half in the finale. Indeed, despite playing of astonishing virtuosity and much better sound than in the Fourth, Walter’s pursuit of speed at the expense of clear rhythms and forceful accent makes this performance a touch less exciting than the stereo remake. This doesn’t mean that it’s not thrilling to hear the orchestra whip though the music like a bat out of hell (second sound sample), but when all is said and done, the general impression is of a stunt–albeit an entertaining one–rather than a cogent vision of Brahms’ Third.

In the Fourth Symphony, which Walter always conducted trenchantly and with a sure grasp of style, the later version actually is quicker in the second movement, marginally slower elsewhere, but the differences aren’t at all significant. The New York Philharmonic offers slightly better playing; the later version enjoys much better sound. That said, I can’t imagine anyone who enjoys Walter and cares about Brahms not wanting to hear these performances. At the very least, these well-remastered editions (clear, somewhat constricted mono, especially in the Fourth) serve as a welcome corrective to the “amiable, sweet, and soft” image surrounding Walter’s last years. -- ClassicsToday.com