IDAGIO | Bartok: The Miraculous Mandarin Suite - Brahms: Symphony No. 1 747313244874

Featuring

Jonathan Pasternack
London Symphony Orchestra
Béla Bartók
Johannes Brahms

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Critical Reception

The early press reception for Brahms's First Symphony was very warm, focusing on its chamber-music aspects, a possible secret program, and its relationship to Beethoven's heritage.

Composition History

Béla Bartók's pantomime, The Miraculous Mandarin, was intended as the third part of a triple bill and was drafted in 1918-19 but only orchestrated five years later.

Composition History

Johannes Brahms took 23 years to write his First Symphony, after Robert Schumann publicly encouraged him to write for larger forces in 1853.

Critical Reception

The Miraculous Mandarin was banned immediately after its 1926 premiere in Cologne on moral grounds by Mayor Konrad Adenauer and was not staged again until 1942.

Recording & Production

This 2008 recording was made at Abbey Road Studios in London, UK, using all digital microphones provided by Sennheiser and Neumann.

Composer Biography

Brahms once remarked to his friend, conductor Hermann Levi, that he would never write a symphony because he felt the immense pressure of Beethoven's legacy.

Composition History

Brahms's First Symphony was the only work for which he fixed a first performance date before completing the composition, delivering the score in installments.