REVIEWS
Philadelphia Inquirer
May 20, 2004
Where Brahms sounds his very best
By Peter Dobrin
Inquirer Music Critic
VIENNA - Sentimental and historical factors aside, there may be no better place in the world to hear Brahms than the Musikverein. Yes, Brahms worked and listened in this hall; and yes, the Philadelphia Orchestra has an authority and polished intensity with the composer that are a rare pleasure anywhere.
But hearing them together Tuesday night in the Brahms Violin Concerto was an unexpectedly powerful experience. The strings drew on a reserve of inexhaustible depth and warmth, Richard Woodhams' important oboe part was penetrating and elegant, and Gil Shaham's solo-violin sound bloomed. …
Altogether, the performance flourished in an acoustic for which Brahms' music seemed to have been specifically written: a perfectly balanced, resonant sound environment that heightened each instrumental section's character, yet still blended. Brahms just sounds so right in the Musikverein.
The orchestra finds itself in Vienna midway through its three-week European tour, and the two Musikverein concerts - one Tuesday, one last night - are in many ways the high point. The Grosser Musikvereinssaal, the large hall in the Musikverein, is wonderful to both players on stage and the audience.
…
… This performance
reminded listeners why the Musikverein has so strongly shaped our expectation
of what a great concert hall should sound like; how the Philadelphia Orchestra
can stand tall on any stage in the world; and the wonderful moment of
impact when the two meet.
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