Brahms Symphony no. 4 + Joachim Heinrich IV Overture – Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra

Brahms´ supreme achievement in orchestral music.

Brahms´ last symphony confused and dismayed his admirers when he first tried it over for them in an arrangement for two pianos with his friend Ignaz Brüll. Brahms was disappointed by their reactions, but changed nothing for the first performance in 1885 at Meningen. Immediately afterwards, the Meiningen Orchestra took the new symphony on tour, and it began to be recognized as its true and remarkable worth. In fact Symphony No. 4 represents Brahms´ supreme achievement in orchestral music: the most impressive result of his lifelong struggle to resurrect the strict musical architecture of the Baroque and infuse it with the supercharged passions of his own – the Romantic – era.

One of the first people to conduct the Fourth Symphony after Brahms, was Joseph Joachim – always championing Brahms´ music at every opportunity. Brahms´ supreme achievement in orchestral musicianship belonged to the first European generation who imbibed Shakespeare from their earliest youth. Heinrich IV, after Shakespeare´s Henry IV, was Joachim´s second overture and became a great favourite of Brahms´.

Mariss Jansons, former Music Director of Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra (1979-2000), is widely recognized as one of the most distinguished musicians of his generations and one of the leading conductors to emerge from the former Soviet Union. Under his leadership the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra has grown to become internationally acknowledged as one of the world´s finest orchestras. The orchestra has had great success both on the concert stage and in the recording studio.