These performances were recorded in the early 1980s when the Berlin Philharmonic was still very much Herbert von Karajan's orchestra (though their relationship had begun to deteriorate). Lorin Maazel made use of the best of the ensemble's well-honed qualities: luxurious string tone; beautifully blended sonorities; bright and piercing (though even then somewhat bodiless) brass. He gets the orchestra to play in a passionately romantic manner that you wouldn't normally expect from such a Teutonic band, and everyone sounds genuinely involved in the music making. Symphony No. 1 is the best of the set--powerful, dramatic, and beautiful. Here, and also in Symphony No. 2 (though less so in "The Rock"), Maazel displays an emotional intensity that disproves the assertion that he is a "cold fish". This is one of the better performances of No. 2, with a first movement climax that really sweeps you along. Maazel does an about face for the Third Symphony, taking a more somber, reflective approach for this work from Rachmaninov's later, more objective period. However, Maazel really plays up Rachmaninov's immaculate and communicative scoring with stunning clarity. This is a far cry from Ashkenazy's romantic lushness or Ormandy's sumptuous Philadelphia sound, but it is compelling in its own way.
What's not compelling is the recording quality. Though the remastering has done much to improve what I once described as "perverse engineering", the sound is still bright and flat, with very little depth (but with improved dynamic range). Ashkenazy's two-fer with the Concertgebouw orchestra remains the best bargain, and at the other extreme is Svetlanov's very Russian (and very expensive) complete orchestral music set on Canyon Classics. But, Maazel's set provides an opportunity to hear the Berlin Philharmonic in rare form--you have to wonder where the orchestra would be today if Maazel had succeeded Karajan instead of Abbado.
--Victor Carr Jr.
