Brahms from Sir Adrian and Dame Janet

Dame Janet Baker and Sir Adrian Boult

Two of the most distinguished and beloved British musicians of the 20th century - mezzo-soprano Dame Janet Baker and conductor Sir Adrian Boult - combined to produce this 1970-71 LP of Brahms' compositions.

On this record, Baker is heard in the Alto Rhapsody, while Boult conducts the second symphony. For Sir Adrian, it was the the second installment in his second cycle of the Brahms symphonies, succeeding his 1954 set. Dame Janet would go on to record a program of Brahms lieder with André Previn at the piano in 1978.

Original and reissue covers

Discussing the Alto Rhapsody, Trevor Harvey wrote in his Gramophone review, "Turgid Brahms, you may think. Yet How can anyone resist Janet Baker’s superb singing and vocal colouring, from a wonderfully veiled tone to great, thrilling outbursts, full of warmth and feeling. Sir Adrian knows exactly how to accompany his soloist with understanding."

Dame Janet, now retired at age 89, is a mezzo-soprano and the work was, after all, written for contralto. But the music is within her range and more importantly she brings great sensitivity to the part. To hear the Rhapsody sung by a true contralto, please look into previous posts by Marian Anderson (newly remastered in ambient stereo) and Aafje Heynis.

Recordings by Marian Anderson and Aafje Heynis

Boult takes a characteristically unfussy approach to the symphony. It may not glow with the radiance of Bruno Walter's late-career recording, but it is cogent in its own way, beautifully balanced and judged. George Jellinek wrote in Stereo Review, "For my taste, the finale does not quite move with the excitement toward which such a finely controlled interpretation should build, but the overall performance displays a maturity, sense of proportion, and delicacy of detail hard to find fault with."

The Alto Rhapsody recording is from a late December 1970 date in Abbey Road Studio No. 1. The symphony comes from January and April 1971 sessions split between Abbey Road and Kingsway Hall. The sound is very good. The excellent performances are relatively closely miked, and any sonic differences between the venues were not noticeable to me. 

The download includes scans from both the first and reissue pressings (the transfer is from the reissue). Along with several reviews, I've included an article about the Alto Rhapsody recording session, along with texts and translations (which HMV did not supply).

This was another of the recordings on non-English music that Sir Adrian undertook in the last years of his career. Earlier we heard from him in Mozart symphonies. Unlike those performances, Boult's Brahms symphonies were issued in the US, but this transfer is from a UK pressing.

HMV ad in the October 1971 Gramophone