Description
Recipient of the prestigious Brahms Prize of theSchleswig-Holstein Brahms Society in 2024,Kent Nagano, leads the Hamburg PhilharmonicState Orchestra, of which he was principalconductor from 2015 until 2025, in the first twosymphonies by the Hamburg-born composer,recorded in concert.Completed in 1876, after more than twentyyears of hesitation, Brahms's First Symphony inC minor, Op. 68, bears the full weight of its longgestation. Rooted in late Beethoven -- Hansvon Bulow famously called it the "Tenth" -- ittraces a compelling per aspera ad astra journey:from the chromatic, drum-led opening'sFaustian struggle, through a luminous slowmovement and buoyant third, to a finale thatbreaks triumphantly into radiant C major. Acritically admired aquired taste, it has remainedthe choice for connoisseurs.Composed swiftly during the summer of 1877at the Worthersee, Brahms's Second Symphonyin D major, Op. 73, stands in luminous contrastto its brooding predecessor. Freed from thepressure of a symphonic debut, Brahmsproduced a work of natural ease and lyricalabundance: from the horn-launched openingmovement to the enchanting third-movementminuet and the exuberant finale, it -- inHanslick's words -- extends its warmth to"connoisseurs and laymen alike."
