Bruno Walter’s Limited Account of Brahms

1899 Portrait of Johannes Brahms (from his biography written by C. Brasch, public domain, from Wikimedia Commons)

I was more than a little disappointed that the Bruno Walter: Complete Warner Classics Remastered Edition limited its account of Johannes Brahms to only three of the four symphonies and one of the overtures. Nevertheless, where “vintage” recordings are concerned, one can only take what one gets. So I shall do my best to overlook the fact that my favorite Brahms symphony, Opus 73, the second symphony in D major, was not included in this collection!

All of the recordings were made during the Thirties of the last century. The earliest of these accounted for the last of the four symphonies, Opus 98 in E minor (which, fortunately, is my second favorite), recorded with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 1934. In chronological order, this is followed by the 1936 recording of the third symphony, Opus 90 in F major, and the 1937 recording of the first symphony, Opus 68 in C minor. The only other Brahms selection included in the collection is the Opus 80 “Academic Festival Overture.” Those wishing a more thorough account are likely to be more satisfied with the five-CD Sony box, which includes all of the symphonies, the Opus 102 “double” concerto for violin and cello, and a generous offering of choral music, all performed by the Columbia Symphony Orchestra.

Fortunately, I am more than satisfied with the BBC account of Opus 98. I sometimes get the impression that Brahms’ approach to composition got more nuanced as he grew older. Walter knew how to account for all of those nuances. Nevertheless, I wish that his European recordings in the Thirties had been a bit more thorough, as they would be after Walter moved to the United States and made recordings with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra!