Marin Alsop, the conductor on this album, first conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2000 in a program that included Brahms's Symphony No. 1.
Performer Biography
Marin Alsop was a student of the renowned American conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein.
Composition History
Brahms completed his First Symphony in October 1876, possibly influenced by the opening of Richard Wagner's Bayreuth festival and the first complete Ring Cycle.
Recording & Production
This album is the inaugural issue in a new cycle of Brahms recordings on the Naxos label.
Composer Biography
Brahms once remarked to his friend, conductor Hermann Levi, that he would never write a symphony because of the immense pressure of following Beethoven.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Brahms described his two overtures, the Tragic Overture and the Academic Festival Overture, by saying 'one laughs, the other weeps'.
Composition History
Brahms's symphonic aspirations began after Robert Schumann, a composer and critic, publicly encouraged him in 1853 to write for larger forces.
