There would not seem to be any crying need for new recordings of
Brahms
'
Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90
, and
Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98
; several conductors more closely associated with
than is
Kent Nagano
have recently released new recordings, and the
Symphony No. 3
saw no fewer than seven releases in 2024 alone. Yet astute responses to his audiences have long been part of
Nagano
's appeal; on the U.S. West Coast, he favored adventurous contemporary programming, and, over ten years as music director at the
Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg
, he programmed and recorded a good deal of
. These recordings were made live at the Elbphilharmonie in 2019 and 2023, in both cases well into his tenure with the orchestra, which was clearly attuned enough to his work to deliver complex interpretations accurately.
's readings are, for the most part, to the slow side, sometimes quite far in that direction, and he delves into the symphonies' motivic intricacies. The orchestra is with him closely enough to keep up the momentum in the passacaglia finale, where lesser conductors and players might have bogged down. There is a monumental quality to
in the classic mode that, for some, may be missing here;
is subtle and detailed. Sample either of the slow movements to see if one wants more warmth, but
succeeds in creating original versions of these well-trodden works, and the
BIS
engineering brings out the excitement these performances must have had live. Recommended for any
library. ~ James Manheim