Nice review. I had this Bruno Walter box in the Save for Later section of my Amazon Shopping Cart for months but finally pulled the trigger and ordered it after listening to your review. I’m really glad I did. I have to agree with you that that early 1950s mono Brahms cycle is really something special. In the Brahms 1, the percussion and feel of the first movement almost has the energy and feeling of a prog rock epic! I’ve never quite heard it played this way. The inner movements then have a real touching beauty and emotion, while the final movement (as you noted) pulls out all the stops. And how about that record of Lotte Lehman singing Schumann songs while Walter accompanies her on the piano? What a stunning record! All the mono stuff with the New York Philharmonic is really energetic and intellectually stimulating, sounds great with lots of detail, and is far less relaxed than the more familiar stereo records with the Columbia Symphony. I’m still working my way through the box, but so far it’s stunning. Really nice book, too. I’d highly recommend the Rafael Kubelik Complete Deutsche Grammophon set. I found his Dvorak and Mahler really moving. I got a deal on it through Amazon Germany.
I do like this box set. I also highly recommend the George Szell box. Also, Warner will be releasing a big Otto Klemperer box later this month and I'm VERY excited about that!
Very interesting survey. I did not buy this box yet. I have already some Walter sacds from Japan. Maybe after your video I will do it after all! By the way , recently I obtained the Haitink Bruckner and Mahler on Decca.( formerly Philips), delivered with one bluray audio disc. Furthermore , I bought ,Markevitch on australian eloquence and Solti's complete CSO recordings....
A good review! I've just subscribed to the channel. I've found the Brahms First the most difficult of his symphonies, personally. To me, compared to the other three, it's an imposing and particularly stern piece. Brahms worried over it for a long time and I think that shows. So the performance that opens the First up for me is Ivan Fischer's the the Budapest Festival Orchestra. It draws out folk and dance rhythms and makes the score more accessible and inviting. I'll have to give Walter's reading another listen and see if I can appreciate it better at this point, then. As for all the big box sets out there these days, I tend not to be as interested in the performers and interpreters as I am in the composers and repertoire, so they're mostly not for me. I am tempted by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra box, however. I've always really liked that orchestra.
Thanks for the great comment and for subscribing, James. I'll have to check out the Ivan Fischer Brahms' 1st. There are two Walter readings of Brahms' 1st to consider in this set. The first he did with the NY Philharmonic, the second with the Columbia Symphony. You might find one to be more to your taste than the other. I'll have to explore the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, too. New territory for me!
@@songtripping4165 The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra plays without a conductor. That's their signature, and they play that way not just in Bach and Haydn but in Respighi and Stravinsky, as well, and offer interpretations to equal those of many fine conductors.
I got a reissue of Schubert's unfinished with Walter back in the 80s and always loved the performance. I think I'll get this box before it goes out of print. I wanted to get the George Szell box, and I waited too long....now it's like a crazy $2000 bucks!!
I hear you! Yikes. This happens with pop/rock box sets too. There was a Leonard Cohen complete studio albums box available for something like $30 and as soon as it went out of print, the price shot up to over $200.
The stereo "Unfinished" was notorious for preserving a loud collision with a music stand. A shame if the glitch was "corrected" for this CD reissue. Perfection can be overdone.
The Leonard Bernstein "100 years - 100 albums" select box in this same format, on the other hand, is going ridiculously cheap several years after its release! Maybe it did not sell out instantly because some long-time fans have the majority of these recordings anyway (Bernstein WAS a household name), or maybe others were disappointed this venture by Sony was not a "Complete recordings". Buuuut what IS inside are almost uniformly dynamic, passionate ("red-blooded") performances. Also some of the more unusual repertoire was programmed by the enterprising Bernstein: Goldmark's "Wedding Symphony", anyone?.. Or how about Nielsen's "Sinfonia Expansiva" on a singular occasion with the Royal Danish Orchestra?.. That kind of stuff, and it is all worthwhile. Moreover, Lennie was known for injecting his personality into old (and tired) "warhorses" of Classical music, so even these interpretations bring excitement to the table. Very well curated box overall, so unless Bernstein recordings (pre-Deutsche Grammophon time) overflow in your collection - a very easy target for next big buy. P. S.: Now that I checked on Amazon, you probably have to look into European warehouses (like Amazon.de) to still find it available, the US stock seems to have gone out of supply and up in price. But the Germans still giving them away, literally.
I've also been buying some of these large classical box sets. Sony has been doing a great job on the presentation - the Books and the Jackets. I wish Warner, DE and UNI would up their presentation. Funny question - Did you listen to them in any order - I don't - just little by little.
I agree w/ you about Sony. Much better presentation. I actually listened to the Bruno Walter box in order from old to new. Going back in I will likely listen at random or by composer.
@@songtripping4165 Have you heard if Sony will do another big box. The last one I know about was Dimitri Mitropoulos last April. It seems like they were doing 1 big box a year. I would think they would do a Stereo box for Eugene Ormandy soon.
@@james6039 I don't have any inside info. Usually I catch news on the Steve Hoffman Forum if something's coming out, and sometimes if I'm lucky, a new box will show up on Amazon. I'd be VERY interested in an Ormandy stereo box! Sony...are you listening??
Walter was a guest conductor and musical advisor at various times with the New York Philharmonic, but he didn't turn anything over to Bernstein or have anything to do with Bernstein becoming a conductor with the New York Philharmonic.
Not a fair comparison though. Dave Hurwitz has been an entertainer all his life (well an art critic, but his inner personality meshes with the public function to a "t"). This is just a person giving his honest opinion. Not doing it for a living, nor trying to convert the masses. :))
Hurwitz strikes me as more of an exhibitionist than a serious reviewer. (And I'm a professional musician half way through my 6th decade, so Im well acquainted with many reviewers.) His RUclips talks are sloppy and haphazard, and are full of factual errors along with his very controversial opinions.
I broke in with Walter conducting the Mahler Resurrection Symphony...and haven't looked back since...
Is Bruno’s Mahler 2 considered definitive? I think it’s gotta be up there among the best versions.
Nice review. I had this Bruno Walter box in the Save for Later section of my Amazon Shopping Cart for months but finally pulled the trigger and ordered it after listening to your review. I’m really glad I did. I have to agree with you that that early 1950s mono Brahms cycle is really something special. In the Brahms 1, the percussion and feel of the first movement almost has the energy and feeling of a prog rock epic! I’ve never quite heard it played this way. The inner movements then have a real touching beauty and emotion, while the final movement (as you noted) pulls out all the stops. And how about that record of Lotte Lehman singing Schumann songs while Walter accompanies her on the piano? What a stunning record! All the mono stuff with the New York Philharmonic is really energetic and intellectually stimulating, sounds great with lots of detail, and is far less relaxed than the more familiar stereo records with the Columbia Symphony. I’m still working my way through the box, but so far it’s stunning. Really nice book, too.
I’d highly recommend the Rafael Kubelik Complete Deutsche Grammophon set. I found his Dvorak and Mahler really moving. I got a deal on it through Amazon Germany.
Thanks for the comments and the rec! I've been really into Mahler lately, and I'll have to check out Kubelik's interpretations.
Thanks for posting.... enjoyable.
Shatie
This is an honest presentation. very enjoyable. I prefer this talk to Hurwitz (no horrible singing).
I do like this box set. I also highly recommend the George Szell box. Also, Warner will be releasing a big Otto Klemperer box later this month and I'm VERY excited about that!
Excellent. I got the Szell Columbia recordings recently for about $200. Such a bargain for over 100 cds. Good stuff.
Great recordings
I mostly lean toward composer boxes but I’d be curious to hear what you think of Solti in London or the Bohm box.
Very interesting survey. I did not buy this box yet. I have already some Walter sacds from Japan. Maybe after your video I will do it after all! By the way , recently I obtained the Haitink Bruckner and Mahler on Decca.( formerly Philips), delivered with one bluray audio disc. Furthermore , I bought ,Markevitch on australian eloquence and Solti's complete CSO recordings....
A good review! I've just subscribed to the channel. I've found the Brahms First the most difficult of his symphonies, personally. To me, compared to the other three, it's an imposing and particularly stern piece. Brahms worried over it for a long time and I think that shows. So the performance that opens the First up for me is Ivan Fischer's the the Budapest Festival Orchestra. It draws out folk and dance rhythms and makes the score more accessible and inviting. I'll have to give Walter's reading another listen and see if I can appreciate it better at this point, then. As for all the big box sets out there these days, I tend not to be as interested in the performers and interpreters as I am in the composers and repertoire, so they're mostly not for me. I am tempted by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra box, however. I've always really liked that orchestra.
Thanks for the great comment and for subscribing, James. I'll have to check out the Ivan Fischer Brahms' 1st. There are two Walter readings of Brahms' 1st to consider in this set. The first he did with the NY Philharmonic, the second with the Columbia Symphony. You might find one to be more to your taste than the other. I'll have to explore the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, too. New territory for me!
@@songtripping4165 The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra plays without a conductor. That's their signature, and they play that way not just in Bach and Haydn but in Respighi and Stravinsky, as well, and offer interpretations to equal those of many fine conductors.
I got a reissue of Schubert's unfinished with Walter back in the 80s and always loved the performance. I think I'll get this box before it goes out of print. I wanted to get the George Szell box, and I waited too long....now it's like a crazy $2000 bucks!!
I hear you! Yikes. This happens with pop/rock box sets too. There was a Leonard Cohen complete studio albums box available for something like $30 and as soon as it went out of print, the price shot up to over $200.
I received the Szell box for a Christmas present! Best gift ever!
The stereo "Unfinished" was notorious for preserving a loud collision with a music stand. A shame if the glitch was "corrected" for this CD reissue. Perfection can be overdone.
The Szell box is out again.It is worth whatever sony are asking.
@@heifetz14 Thanks!
The Szell box is reissued. Just over 100 CDs but it is much more expensive than the Walter box.
The Leonard Bernstein "100 years - 100 albums" select box in this same format, on the other hand, is going ridiculously cheap several years after its release! Maybe it did not sell out instantly because some long-time fans have the majority of these recordings anyway (Bernstein WAS a household name), or maybe others were disappointed this venture by Sony was not a "Complete recordings". Buuuut what IS inside are almost uniformly dynamic, passionate ("red-blooded") performances. Also some of the more unusual repertoire was programmed by the enterprising Bernstein: Goldmark's "Wedding Symphony", anyone?.. Or how about Nielsen's "Sinfonia Expansiva" on a singular occasion with the Royal Danish Orchestra?.. That kind of stuff, and it is all worthwhile. Moreover, Lennie was known for injecting his personality into old (and tired) "warhorses" of Classical music, so even these interpretations bring excitement to the table.
Very well curated box overall, so unless Bernstein recordings (pre-Deutsche Grammophon time) overflow in your collection - a very easy target for next big buy.
P. S.: Now that I checked on Amazon, you probably have to look into European warehouses (like Amazon.de) to still find it available, the US stock seems to have gone out of supply and up in price. But the Germans still giving them away, literally.
I've also been buying some of these large classical box sets. Sony has been doing a great job on the presentation - the Books and the Jackets. I wish Warner, DE and UNI would up their presentation. Funny question - Did you listen to them in any order - I don't - just little by little.
I agree w/ you about Sony. Much better presentation. I actually listened to the Bruno Walter box in order from old to new. Going back in I will likely listen at random or by composer.
@@songtripping4165 Have you heard if Sony will do another big box. The last one I know about was Dimitri Mitropoulos last April. It seems like they were doing 1 big box a year. I would think they would do a Stereo box for Eugene Ormandy soon.
@@james6039 I don't have any inside info. Usually I catch news on the Steve Hoffman Forum if something's coming out, and sometimes if I'm lucky, a new box will show up on Amazon. I'd be VERY interested in an Ormandy stereo box! Sony...are you listening??
Interesting review, but who are you? What is your (musical) background. I've tried to find some information on this profile but can't find any.
Walter was a guest conductor and musical advisor at various times with the New York Philharmonic, but he didn't turn anything over to Bernstein or have anything to do with Bernstein becoming a conductor with the New York Philharmonic.
Thanks for the correction, Remo.
Maybe try to speak with a bit more animation. You need to draw the listeners in
Is pitiful how he handles LP records (!!!)
Sorry sir but, in voice, articulation, mood, presentation and humor(!) Hurwitz prevails. Not watching. Thankzzzz…
Not a fair comparison though. Dave Hurwitz has been an entertainer all his life (well an art critic, but his inner personality meshes with the public function to a "t"). This is just a person giving his honest opinion. Not doing it for a living, nor trying to convert the masses. :))
Apples and oranges. Enthusiasm is enough for me.
Not comparing like with like. And, I'm a believer in the old adage that if you don't have something nice to say.....
Hurwitz strikes me as more of an exhibitionist than a serious reviewer. (And I'm a professional musician half way through my 6th decade, so Im well acquainted with many reviewers.) His RUclips talks are sloppy and haphazard, and are full of factual errors along with his very controversial opinions.
Leaving classical music discussions to the pros is a good way of killing classical music.