Edito de Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 1?4, Tragic Overture, Double Concerto, Serenade No. 2After struggling for years to come to terms with his fear of comparison to Beethoven, Brahms finally completed his First Symphony at the age of 43. It was hailed as a triumph and the remaining symphonies followed relatively easily. They contain music ranging from pastoral beauty to dramatic German Romanticism on a grand symphonic scale. CD Reviews Symphony No 1 & Tragic Overture a ravishing CD a revelatory re-interpretation by an orchestra and conductor among the world's finest, on the very top of their form. Not a nuance is misjudged, as Haitink and the LSO takes us on a hair-raising version of the journey Brahms envisaged: long, scenic and never a dull moment The Observer (UK), 25 April 2004 The opening bars of the symphony, hammered out with real force and energy, set the tone for a fine, full-blooded performance hard to beat Mail on Sunday (UK), 9 May 2004 CD Reviews Symphony No 2 & Double Concerto [an] exceptional new disc imposing and beautifully shaded Editor s Choice Gramophone, March 2004 a classic recording The Independent (UK), 10 January 2004 scintillating The fact that it is a live recording adds a certain edge; and those of us lucky enough to be at either concert at the Barbican last May will recall all too vividly the blazing performances of the orchestra's leader Gordan Nikolitch and principal cellist Tim Hugh in the double concerto. A rapturous account of the second symphony rounds off a disc fully worthy of launching the orchestra's centenary year The Observer (UK), 18 January 2004 CD Reviews Symphony No 3 & Serenade No 2 a really beautiful performance of the second serenade A delight this seems to me a new benchmark. It goes without saying that the playing is excellent Benchmark Recording (Serenade No 2) BBC Music Magazine, January 2005 enchanting The sense we have here is of a musician re-discovering a piece he once loved and mistakenly thought he knew' Gramophone, March 2005 CD Reviews Symphony No 4 the crowning glory of Bernard Haitink's Brahms cycle BBC Radio 3 CD Review, 12 February 2005 a glorious rendition It is also the last in Haitink's Brahms cycle for the orchestra's label, LSO Live, exceeding even the standards of it's predecessors in its slowly building tension, superb string sheen and breathtaking climax The Observer (UK), 6 March 2005 Artistique 10 Technique 10 ClassicsTodayFrance.com, February 2005 this is the crowning instalment in a series This ranks with such classic Fourths as Kleiber's, Karajan's and Toscanini's Hi-Fi News, April 2005 Lire la suite