Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op.90
Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op.98
Hallé Orchestra/Sir John Barbirolli
rec. 1952 (No.3; mono), 1959 (No.4; stereo), Free Trade Hall, Manchester, UK
Pristine Audio PASC764 [72]

Although Brahms employed the sonata form in the first movements of both these symphonies, Barbirolli’s approach to them seems to indicate that he recognised how fluent and flexible was Brahms’s execution of that form, as he emphasises emotional expressivity over technical rigidity, favouring lyricism over stern control and rhythmic precision.

There is no doubt that the Hallé in 1952 was not as technically secure or indeed virtuosic as it would become by the time of the recording of the Fourth Symphony but the phrasing of the Third is warm and inward. Unfortunately, the opening is not promising: the woodwind and brass are poorly tuned and string articulation is imprecise – but matters improve. Nor is the rather screechy mono sound very welcoming as it makes the violins shrill – although the ear tends to adjust. The absence of any exposition repeat reinforces the swiftness of Barbirolli’s tempi; the second and third movements, too, are quite fast and free-flowing with some nice phrase-shaping by the winds whose intonation has by now improved. The horns in the waltz movement are certainly not of the highest calibre but Barbirolli points up details neatly; quite often one feels that his ideas are only partially successfully executed by his orchestra. There is some lack of weight at climaxes and textures can become muddied. The finale is driven and energetic but compared with the best of that era by such as Szell, Reiner, Toscanini and Walter – and Barbirolli’s later recording with the VPO – this is not sonically, technically or artistically as competitive.

It is something of a relief to turn to the warmer, stereo sound of 1959 and the superior playing in the Fourth Symphony. However, some of the same issues regarding tuning, ensemble and blend still obtain, even if they are less noticeable and you would never mistake the Hallé for the best of their European or American counterparts. Personally, I feel that the concentration upon lyricism is rather at the expense of the power we hear in Furtwängler and structural tautness of Klemperer but there is considerable appeal in the very human, emotional intensity of Barbirolli’s engagement. Then the pizzicati of the slow movement are a bit sloppy and the horns and woodwind a bit sour, but there is real warmth to the Big Tune and the Allegro giocoso third movement rattles along engagingly – however, I am not blown away; it’s a typical “swings and roundabouts” scenario.

Barbirolli avoids the bombast which can infect the finale although again, in truth, I could do with just a little more attack and weight. The Passacaglia proves the orchestra’s biggest test and once more the counterpoint is occasionally slack and ill-defined, with some blurring of the inner voices and rhythmic pointing. I also think the quiet central section goes off the boil somewhat and I am not sure it ever really recovers the crackling intensity those closing pages need and deserve. (Incidentally, I have read elsewhere of some distortion in the tape but Pristine have evidently tamed that here.)

I cannot in all conscience recommend this above more striking, contemporaneous recordings unless you are a Barbirolli completist.

Ralph Moore

Other review: Robert Barnett