Recording Review #21: Bothersome Brahms

 

Brahms: The Symphonies. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Deutsche Grammophon 486 6000. 

I mean, what can I say about YNS's conducting that I haven't said already? Another set of standard repertoire symphonies led by him, another problematic heap. But here we have a gimmick: a smaller orchestra that lets us hear these well-known works "differently." After all, writes another reviewer, Brahms himself preferred an orchestra of about 50 musicians for his symphonies. "Less is more," right?

No, less is usually just...less. YNS already comes with his particular blend of "less": a gooey approach to dynamics and articulation, a fitful sense of rhythm, underplayed or misplaced melodies/climaxes, and in general a tendency to tinker rather than be a forthright steward of the music. When you add fewer strings than usual to this mix, you have more less, not less less. The result is occasionally good playing (usually the slow movements that conceal such imbalances better) interspersed with a whole lot of jarring, mannered grossness. 

Worst of all are the opening movements of the Third and Fourth. You can hardly hear their main themes properly for lack of strong string presence. These are pretty darned important. The sense of Frei aber froh in the Third is absent. Instead we have something that is often muted and sludgy...the complete opposite of the spirit of this music. Something similar can be said for the Fourth. Rather than a strong beauty and mystery there we get pervasive, muffled limpness. 

I've typed out my specific problems with YNS's playing multiple times before (see my Recording Review #13 for an extended example) and won't do it again here; it's as exhausting as listening to these interpretations. I can only hope the YNS Parade of Ruining Core Rep is petering out, but I somehow doubt it. I'll summarize: YNS doesn't seem to care about the innate character of the music as much as he does about tampering it into something that's "his own." To be fair, he's hardly alone in that these days. I want so much more than this. But mainly what we get here is all of his "less" in its lessy glory. 

If you're anything but a collecting nerd, do yourself a favor: stick with great performances of this cycle by Jochum, Abbado, Solti, Wand, Haitink, or many others. Leave this one well alone. 

Avoid