Several of you asked for one of my favorites - the conductor Karl Böhm - in a 1959 recording with the Berlin Philharmonic of Brahms Symphony No. 1. So here it is in my "From the Back Room" series. The transfers, etc., are prepared with the usual care, but my at times talky commentary may be abbreviated.
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| Karl Böhm |
In this reading of Brahms' weighty Symphony No. 1, Böhm displays his usual careful balancing of the orchestral choirs, producing a performance of rare depth.
Here is what Martin Bookspan had to say in Stereo Review: "Bôhm gives us a solid. middle-European performance of Brahms’ granitic work. It is a reading of substance and dignity and is superbly well played by the orchestra and beautifully recorded by the engineers in both the mono and stereo editions. If I continue to prefer Klemperer's Angel recording (35481), it is because the octogenarian brings more of himself to his re-creation of the music. But I'd rate this new Bôhm version close behind that of Klemperer."
The sound from this original pressing is resonant but very good.
10 comments:
Great! Thank You.
MPT - Happy to do it!
I can't wait to listen to this. I'll be surprised if your sound isn't better than DG achieved on the CD. Many thanks for all of your work!
Anon - I haven't heard the CD, so can't say. The sound here is pretty good, though!
Merci beaucoup pour cet enregistrement, à mon sens bien meilleur que la version avec le Philharmonique de Vienne.
Thierry - Je suis ravi que vous l'aimiez ; l'enregistrement est l'un de mes préférés.
Congratulations on your transfer; it sounds great! I find it interesting that both the Bohm 1959 recording and the von Karajan 1963 recording of the symphony were recorded by the same company in the same venue (Kirche Jesu Christi, Berlin), but have very different acoustics.
Anon - Thanks so much for the compliment. As for the sound quality, so much depends on the preferences of the conductor and producer (and the transfer). This to me is a good example of the characteristic Böhm approach: beautifully balanced, resonant sound.
I never heard this version before...a nice surprise indeed ! Never heavy, nor showing off, Böhm -thanks to rather fresh tempi- underlines clearly the curve of this dramatic work. Thanks a lot Buster for this discovery !!
Thanks, Jean - It's a favorite of mine, as well.
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