Jaap van Zweden and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra turn in technically assured, expressively nuanced, and sonically rich performances on this album of Johannes Brahms' Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90, and the Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98, so it's no wonder they have been reissued several times by Brilliant Classics, both singly and in box sets. One should not think, however, that these are the best performances available simply because of the frequency of releases, and beginners new to Brahms' symphonies ...
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Jaap van Zweden and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra turn in technically assured, expressively nuanced, and sonically rich performances on this album of Johannes Brahms' Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90, and the Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98, so it's no wonder they have been reissued several times by Brilliant Classics, both singly and in box sets. One should not think, however, that these are the best performances available simply because of the frequency of releases, and beginners new to Brahms' symphonies would be well advised to seek out the truly great historic recordings by Toscanini, Furtwängler, or Walter, as well as some of the excellent modern renditions by Giulini, Abbado, and Bychkov, among others, before settling on a favorite. Certainly, van Zweden's earnest efforts should not be compared too closely or harshly with those of the maestros mentioned above, but he does a serviceable job of presenting these symphonies with mental clarity, musicality, and fidelity to the scores,...
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