Honeck gets Brahms right

Manfred Honeck is certainly having a great moment. Along with his main ensemble, the Pittsburgh Symphony, he has been releasing noteworthy recordings that have propelled them as one of the leading American orchestras.

Their most recent recordings of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky sound great. The one that I didn’t like was their take on Beethoven’s epic Ninth. I was taken aback by this performance, since I had enjoyed their Eroica so much.

Nonetheless, I started to read great things about their most recent endeavor: Brahms’ 4th symphony. Every single critic I follow was hailing this new recording amongst the best of this year.

Even when that picked my interest I remained cautious: Brahms’ 4th symphony is one of my favorite pieces of music. Sometimes I even feel like it's the best symphony ever written. The thing is that I have such a high esteem of this work, that every time I hear a new version I end up almost unfailingly disappointed.

I finally gathered the courage to listen to Honeck’s interpretation of this symphony and I have to join the chorus of praise: it is simply outstanding. This work exudes anguish in the most romantic way possible, a sentiment that even evolves into despair. The dynamic range has also been handled proficiently, and the balance between the different sections of the orchestra is nothing but delightful.

I have always considered Carlos Kleiber’s version as the definitive reading of this work, but now that I hear Honeck’s approach, I begin to have second thoughts.

Yes, it is that good, trust me.