Herbert Blomstedt - Brahms: Works for Chorus and Orchestra (1990)

Brahms often struggled to get his works precisely the way he wanted them (remember that it took nearly twenty years for him to complete his First Symphony), but the struggle has proven worth it for classical music lovers the world over. In particular, he excelled inside the choral genre--and not just in his much-loved and powerful German Requiem. As this recording by the San Francisco Symphony makes the case for, Brahms was able to compose a number of shorter works for chorus and orchestra.

With the orchestra being led by Conductor Laureate Herbert Blomstedt, and the renowned San Francisco Symphony Chorus prepared by Vance George, this recording contains five of Brahms' best-known shorter excursions into the choral genre: "Schicklaslied"; "Alto Rhapsody"; `Begrabnisgesang"; "Nanie"; and "Gessang Der Parzen"). All of these demonstrate the composer's comfort inside the genre, and his influences as well, from Bach through Handel and on to Beethoven. Two of the works ("Alto Rhapsody"; "Gesang Der Parzen") are based on texts by Goethe; and "Nanie" is from a text by Friedrich von Schiller, whose poem "Ode To Joy" had provided Beethoven with the inspiration for the staggering finale of his Ninth Symphony. Every single kind of emotion is let loose in these pieces.

Noted Brahms' specialist Jard van Ness is the contralto vocal soloist in "Alto Rhapsody", accompanied by the men of the SFSO Chorus, and the orchestra is at a world-class peak under Blomstedt's direction. Blomstedt was never the flashiest of conductors in any of his posts, including the ten years he spent in the Bay Area; but that decision to go for sheer professionalism rather than big effects manifests itself on this Brahms choral album, and San Francisco was lucky to have him. Along with the orchestra's similar Grammy-winning recording of the composer's "German Requiem", this album is a must-have for anyone interested in the complex nature of orchestral and choral music, and in the professional brilliance displayed by this great American orchestra/conductor relationship.