London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski - Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4 (2014)

This disc completes Jurowski’s Brahms cycle; the first two symphonies were issued on LPO 43, which I haven’t heard. Judging from this disc, however, I’m sorry I missed it. Jurowski doesn’t Read more Luftpausen and knows how to use them; they almost sound like (good) German performances from the 1930s, e.g., young Klemperer, Bruno Walter, or Fritz Busch. And it’s almost magical to have these kinds of “throwback” performances in such marvelous, pristine digital sound. Bottom line: In today’s atmosphere of a more literal reading of scores, performances like these may be considered old-fashioned by some, and to me they are not necessarily “home ground,” but I found them fascinating and valid, and the LPO plays their hearts out on them.