Brahms - Haydn Variations [Muti-Philadelphia Orchestra]The Italian Riccardo Muti recorded a Brahms Symphony cycle in the late eighties, the discs are available as a set, but originally were issued seperately, i am not a fan of the 2nd and 3rd Symphonies of Brahms, i find them quite weak, but his First Symphony is a different matter, plus the Haydn Variations are a treasure, so this is a desirable disc, Muti is now nearly 70, he recorded this when he was 48.
I like variations, whether they are Orchestral or Instrumental or Chamber, there's something about having a short piece of music, then exploring every avenue of possibility with it, whether it be key signature, meter, speed, etc, it's amazing what a clever Composer can create out of a simple tune.
On this listening i especially loved variation 6 and the finale, variation 6 [9:46-11:06] is that part where the horns come in with their oompah oompah, a really nice touch, i like the bumbling gait of this variation, the piece gets louder, it's like it was made for a Brass Band, horns and woodwinds take it in turns chugging out the tune [9:46-10:12], and then it's the strings and the timpani [10:13-11:06], each variation is heightened by the variation preceding or following it, a lovely memorable musical experience.
Here's Liviu Buiuc conducting variations 4-7 on YouTube, variation 6 starts at 3:40.
