Classical Music for Aficionados

Well here is something that, at minimum, you will find more 'modern'. A road less traveled for sure. Paalo Berglund and the COE. If you are tired of over orchestrated, bloated Brahms, performed by large orchestras, which is so abundant, perhaps you should give these a listen. I find them quite attractive. If you like what happens here then maybe you should give his Sibelius a listen as well.  

Hi all:

I am a new contributor to this classical forum, and am delighted that there is an Audiogon group that is focused on the much neglected classical repertoire by audiophiles. Certainly, there is no other branch of music can that can fully test the excellence of audio systems like classical!

I recently picked up the recent Brahms symphony cycle on CD at Tanglewood with Andris Nelsons and the superb Boston Symphony.

I have never heard Brahms interpreted quite like this, and my appreciation grows with every repeat hearing. Nelsons imparts a new fluidity to these great works - and nowhere is this more evident than in the relatively neglected 2nd Symphony. You will be captivated by this performance as well as the sumptuous sound quality of this relatively new release. It is time to experience the wondrous subtleties that unravel so perfectly under Nelsons’ direction.

  I haven't hear Nelsons in Brahms.  The reviews have been somewhat mixed.  For the record my favorite cycles are

1) Kurt Sanderling/Dresden Staatkapele  mine are on Japanese Blue Spec discs but they always seem to be in print somewhere. 

2) Walter/Columbia SO (stereo-there are several Walter mono cycles which are even better performances) only a low energy Fourth keeps this from top rank 

3) Klemperer/Philharmonia  O.K., Klemperer could be granitic, but Brahms was definitely in his wheelhouse

4) Jurowski/Pittsburgh  on Pentatone-the best Multichannel set

5) Karajan/Berlin P   I give my nod to the seventies cycle, but there is a more exciting live Brahms cycle from the early seventies recorded in Paris in good FM stereo available from Norbeck,Peters, and Ford (norpete.com) that blows away the studio cycles.  The more live Karajan I hear, the more I realize that he could have tremendous spontaneity)

I'd like to hear the Steinberg/Pittsburgh set that was just released by DG, I think it is mentioned a bit upthread

I have Marik Janowski Brahms 2+3 sitting in my Amazon cart at the moment.  The thing is, I can't remember now why I added that recording.

  The Janowski is a solid cycle.  Pittsburgh is a great, and under rated orchestra, the interpretations are well shaped, and Pentatone is truly  an audiophile label.  If you are a Multichannel enthusiast, there really is no other MC Brahms cycle that comes close (I have 3 others-maser/Gewandhaus, Manze/Helsingborg, and Paavo Jarvi with the Bremen Chamber Orchestra on Blu Ray.  The Jarvi is excellent but it's small band Brahms, much like Berglund/COE.  You do miss some oomph in the bigger moments).  If you don't care about multichannel, the Janowski is still a worthy set that sounds great in two channel.