Fire and crystal
Deutsche Grammophon presents a new recording by John Eliot Gardiner and one of the world's most renowned orchestras: the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra from Amsterdam. Recorded in 2022 and 2023, all four symphonies by Johannes Brahms can be heard on three CDs.
Johannes Brahms composed his symphonies throughout his life, allowing the individual works to unfold very different soundscapes - one of the reasons why they still captivate audiences and artists worldwide today. For John Eliot Gardiner, this diversity means a new challenge with every interpretation, which makes each performance unique. He recorded the symphonies with his Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique on original instruments 18 years ago. Why this new interpretation now? Gardiner says it himself:
"I felt the need and found it an appealing task to build on this first fruitful experience and to transfer the knowledge and experience gained from it to working with a modern orchestra - especially one as renowned, flexible and excellent as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra - in order to achieve a fresh synthesis of styles and interpretations.'Fuego y cristal', to paraphrase Jorge Luis Borges - that was our goal."

Tracklisting:

CD 1
Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68

1. I. Un poco sostenuto – Allegro
2. II. Andante sostenuto
3. III. Un poco allegretto e grazioso
4. IV. Adagio – Più andante – Allegro non troppo, ma con brio – Più allegro

CD 2
Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73

1. I. Allegro non troppo
2. II. Adagio non troppo
3. III. Allegretto grazioso (quasi andantino)
4. IV. Allegro con spirito

CD 3
Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90
1. I. Allegro con brio
2. II. Andante
3. III. Poco allegretto
4. IV. Allegro

Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98

5. I. Allegro non troppo
6. II. Andante moderato
7. III. Allegro giocoso
8. IV. Allegro energico e passionato