Album

It is hard to remember back to a time when this cover photograph—three geezers in ties and dark suits, two of them bald and one with thick, horn-rimmed glasses—could have been considered hip. But, even then, of course, the last thing Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft wanted in a recording of Brahms' Double Concerto was hip. What DGG wanted was the big-boned tone of cellist Janos Starker, the hard-muscled technique of violinist Wolfgang Schneiderhan, and, most of all, the clear-eyed modernism of the RSO Berlin under Ferenc Fricsay. And that's exactly what it got: a Brahms' Double that had plenty of power and precision but that was cold-blooded in its execution. But, even coupled with Fricsay's recording of Beethoven's Triple Concerto again with Schneiderhan, but partnered this time with Pierre Fournier and Géza Anda, it's hard to imagine anyone in these digital times will find these performances hip. Fricsay was a cool and clear conductor with a lean and sinewy approach to tempo and form and, while his Beethoven Triple is lyrical, it is more objective than subjective, more steel than silk. While back in the early '60s, these recordings along with the three geezers on the cover might have been hip, one wonders if digital listeners will be able to dig it, daddy-o. DG's original early stereo sound was warmer and deeper than many of its original early digital recordings.

© James Leonard, All Music Guide

CD 1
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Concerto in C for Violin, Cello, and Piano, Op.56 ('Triple Concerto') Work Recorded 1960 36:55 Ferenc Fricsay Conductor, Wolfgang Schneiderhan Violin, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Géza Anda Piano, Pierre Fournier Cello
1	1.Allegro	18:15			$2.99
2	2.Largo	5:02			$0.99
3	3.Rondo alla polacca	13:38			$2.49
Johannes Brahms Composer Double Concerto in A- for Violin and Cello, Op.102 Work Recorded 1961 34:19 Ferenc Fricsay Conductor, Janos Starker Cello, Wolfgang Schneiderhan Violin, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra
4	1.Allegro	16:56			$2.99
5	2.Andante	8:08			$1.49
6	3.Vivace non troppo	9:15			$1.49