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DiscountDelight - Brahms: The Complete Symphonies / Karajan, Berlin PO
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List Price: $17.98
Our Price: $13.86
Your Save: $ 4.12 ( 23% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0028945309729
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
Number Of Discs: 2
Publisher: Deutsche Grammophon
Release Date: 1998-06-09
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Symphonic Heaven
Comment: Karajan is largely considered the greatest exponent for mainstream symphonic works- Mozart, Brahms, Tchaikovsky Mahler, Dvorak and Bruckner. This collection is a terrific buy and it's affordable. You can't go wrong. Recorded in 1977 and 1978, Karajan delivers all the rich melody, grace, grandeur and musical harmony that Brahms suffused his four symphonies with. The Berlin Philharmonic are trained so that even the strings move with miraculous exactitude. The only other worthy set is Solti's. This one has everything one can hope for in Brahms symphonies.
Karajan was always a champion of his own German music's history. He is still regarded as the first-rate exponent of Wagner and Strauss for example. Brahms, born in Austria, was another composer whose Germanic music Karajan was able to aptly depict through the magic of his baton. The impressive parts of this set include the entire 1st symphony- not reduced to the Beethoven parody some make it out to be. Instead, it holds its own as a work of compelling power. The finale is inspirational. The finale to the second is equally as moving. The 4th symphony is my favorite symphony of the post Beethoven Romantic Era. In this symphony we find a mixture of mysticism, romantic beauty and classical balance. In it we also find, in the last movement, the greatest example of theme and variations, Brahm's strongest suit as a composer. Karajan knows his stuff. You can never go wrong with any of his interpretations, though he, too, has his detractors. His Tchaikovsky tends to be too fiery and melodramatic for example and he was never at home with Italian opera as he was in German. Karajan is brilliant and his Berlin forces electrify. At a cheap price, this is a must have if you call yourself a true classical music fan.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A great part of your collection!
Comment: This is an easy, afforable way to get all four Brahms symphonies on two great quality cds. Each symphony is recorded with the passion and fire you get from Brahm's music, although I have heard better recordings of the symphonies,I would still buy these cd's for the price.
If I have to say the worst thing about these recordings is the first movement of the third symphony is not what I was expecting ( I was expecting much more on the recording)
Customer Rating:
Summary: The greatest Brahms twofer you could imagine
Comment: DG's catalog is overflowing with Brahms performances from Karajan, and although this late-Seventies cycle of the four symphonies is not esteemed as highly as his earlier analog recordings, the truth is that Karajan had few real competitors in these works during the postwar era--except himself. He was the greatest Brahms conductor after Walter and Furtwangler, bar none, and these are outstanding performances in every way. The best are the First and Thrid symphonies, two works that Karajan was peerless in.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very polished Brahms
Comment: Wonderful performances from the finest of the Brahms conductors...Herbie Karajan. Wonderfully straightfoward performances without the wayward stylings of the 63 set....
That being said the Fourth and First of the 63 set are incredible and deserve to be in any serious Brahms collection ...
sonincally these are very fine readings!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Mediocre, very mediocre
Comment: Wow. I had so much respect for Karajan before these recordings; I still do, but not as much. While before I viewed Karajan as being almost immortal in any interpretation of any symphony, I now know otherwise. If you want a good recording of the first symphony, get the 1964 edition of the "Originals" by Deutsche Grammophon. Karajan conducts that version much better than this one, I mean he totally butchered the first symphony here. As for the 3rd, he also trips. His 3rd symphony is not as textured or multicolored as his other recordings of the 3rd. His 2nd and 4th, while having some merits, is for the most part, dry, muddy, and without the passionate flame and directness that Brahms has to be played with.
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Editorial Reviews:
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These 1977-78 recordings are Karajan's best Brahms--better than his somewhat mannered digital set. The Berlin Philharmonic, as ever, is amazingly smooth and accomplished, playing with great class without losing any power--as an example, just listen to the finale of the second symphony. DG's engineers have turned this always-good recording into something truly magnificent to hear, and, at the price, this is a sure bet. --Robert Levine
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