As my colleague Graham Williams rightly notes, the sound lavished on Brahms/Schoenberg: Piano Quartet No. 1 - Albrecht is far superior to this release (even when "only" listening in stereo to make the comparisons as fair as possible).

What of the performances? Taking the purely Schoenberg first, the complete dedication and utter conviction that both Rattle & his orchestra have for this music shines through the limitations of the recording. They collectively shape the phrases of both works into a collective narrative arc that is intellectually and emotionally satisfying. In this light, the inclusion of the Chamber Symphony is a very important factor for assessing the relative merits of this and Albrecht's disc. Although there is a good account on Cybele (Schoenberg, Monn: Cello concertos), this is a very different conception of the piece because that recording uses chamber forces rather than the luxuriant plushness of the full strength Berliner Philharmoniker. Because of the size of the forces involved (and the less than crystal clear recording), there are many details in the score that sadly go unnoticed which detract from being able to make links to other works in Schoenberg's output.

The re-imagined Brahms is treated very differently. Gone is the searing search for modernist clarity (fatally undermined though that is by both the size of forces chosen and the less-than-perfect recording in the Chamber Symphony) and instead one senses that Schoenberg's ideas of timbre and balance are taking a distant second place to the collective idea of a Brahmsian sound. And that justly famed sound is frequently heard; on its own terms it eclipses the offering of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and would be enormously thrilling in concert. The subtlety with which this Brahmsian glow is embellished could be described, if one were feeling unkind, as if they were embarrassed to play the aurally stunning effects. When this reticence is contrasted against the relish with which Rattle & the Berliners imbue the more conventionally orchestrated passages, it may well make some feel rather frustrated. Although, there is no denying the visceral thrill of the closing pages which would no doubt leave any audience gasping with pleasure*, the length of pause of the cellos & basses just beforehand is surely far in excess of both what Schoenberg & Brahms had conceived (and there are other "mannerisms" that may not be entirely convincing).

The sound though is the major problem of this disc and further muddies the textual waters that are less than clear thanks to the gargantuan forces on display. Just one instance of the cloudy fog that engulfs the musicianship is that if one had no access to the score and had never heard the re-imagining of the Brahms, the listener would hardly realise that there are many instances of flutter-tonguing! It is the semi-permanent sense of congestion that really frustrates, for there is plenty of impact from the double basses and percussion. Despite the intellectual satisfaction from the pure Schoenberg performances, the Brahms/Schoenberg is far better heard (in all senses) with Albrecht and even in the Chamber Symphony, despite the many merits of the playing & conducting, Brogli-Sacher allows the listener to experience the work on the scale that it was conceived for as well as the many details that are masked by the combination of forces and the recording conspire to smother here.

A great shame but only recommended to the most ardent fans of the orchestra or conductor.

*: excepting die-hard HIP purists, who would probably be rather aghast!

Copyright © 2015 John Broggio and HRAudio.net

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