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The 99 Most Essential Brahms Masterpieces (Amazon Exclusive) |  | Artist: Various Artists
Label: X5 Music Group
Category: Digital Music Album
Buy New: $5.99
as of 3/10/2010 07:19 CST details
Seller: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 588
Genre: classical-music
Media: MP3 Download
Running Time: 43901 Minutes
ASIN: B0030GQC08
Release Date: January 19, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Best One To Buy! February 26, 2010
R. Workman
I own several of the other 99 Most Essential albums (Mozart, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky) and I'd have to say that Brahms is my most favorite to listen to. Mostly because this album includes more complete works than the other ones and they're performed in a way that someone not very familiar with Brahms will enjoy them. I am that person, not too familiar with Brahms, but I loved this album and am now interested in learning more about this amazing classical composer.
Pretty Good Deal February 16, 2010
T. Nielsen (LAYTON, UTAH)
This is a pretty good deal, but read the fine print before you press "GO".
Very good February 4, 2010
RSRCHB4UBY (CA USA)
This is a new addition to my collection of "The 99 Most Essential...Masterpieces" classical music albums from Amazon. This is also a good compilation and I am glad I got it. I am not a classical music enthusiast, but like listening to it every now and then to take a break from the talk radio that I normally listen.
Brahms gets his set, and it's a good one January 23, 2010
T. Fisher
36 out of 36 found this review helpful
This is another great collection from the X5 group. The set is a bargain for the complete cycle of all four of Brahms' symphonies alone, featuring the Berlin Symphony Orchestra (BSO) conducted by the Venezuelan conductor Eduardo Marturet.
The symphonies are performed ably by the BSO and Marturet (who is now music director of the Miami Symphony Orchestra). The readings seem to drag in a few places, but overall the recordings are quite good. Symphony No 1 is a live recording and has a very few coughs and such. The others seem to be studio recordings -- at least they don't have applause at the end and I didn't notice crowd noise during a casual listen.
The BSO features prominently in this collection. During the Cold War, the BSO was East Berlin rival to the West's Berlin Philharmonic, and after the fall of the Berlin Wall there were questions about whether it could survive at all. But it has recovered today, and in 2006 changed its name to the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. It is still a fine orchestra, and features frequently on recordings, often for budget labels.
Besides the symphony cycle, the BSO and Marturet perform a set of all 21 of the crowd-pleasing Hungarian Dances. They also give nice renditions of both of the Piano Concertos, but unfortunately the name of the soloist is not provided. I believe it might be Karin Lechner -- I haven't found references to any other recordings of these concertos by Marturet and the BSO with any other soloist.
It is really interesting (and a terrific idea) that both of Brahms' clarinet sonatas are included in both the original versions for clarinet, and the alternate versions for viola. It's great to listen to these works back to back with the alternate instrumentation -- and a much faster reading on the clarinet versions. The collection also contains all three of Brahms' violin sonatas, performed capably by Aaron Rosand and Hugh Sung.
The Violin Concerto by Rosand and the Monte Carlo Philharmonic is performed well, but the orchestra sounds a bit dark, like it wasn't microphoned very well. The solo violin is much brighter and the contrast is a bit strange. No matter, it doesn't detract from the set overall. I really like the Double Concerto with the well-known Dutch violinist Emmy Verhey and Hungarian cellist and Indiana University professor Janos Starker.
The set doesn't include any of Brahms' choral works, but its selection of orchestral and chamber works is really quite good. There are a few Lieder, but they are not the focus or the high point of the set, really.
The casual listener who just wants a "greatest hits" collection may be a bit disappointed, because Brahms had far fewer "greatest hits" than some other composers. If you are unfamiliar with this music, it can be a bit slower and less catchy than, say, many well-known pieces by Mozart, Beethoven or Tchaikovsky. But it's definitely worth it!
Snap it up at the special $1.99 price as the "Deal of the Day" on January 23, 2010 if you can, but if you miss that deal, it's still a bargain at the regular price. Highly recommended!
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