Riccardo Chailly's recently completed series of Brahms symphonies on Decca is now quickly followed by Ashkenazy's from the same company. Decca have shrewdly avoided a direct clash by offering in each case some thought-provoking fill-ups by other composers who are musically related to the German master, rather than the usual Haydn Variations or one of the two overtures. Collectors who are not interested in Chailly's Schoenberg and Webern will find pleasure in Ashkenazy's Dvorak. His performance of the string Serenade has much to offer through its grace affection and gentle good humour, despite a slightly close, over-bright recording. A Czech conductor would perhaps bring out the score's homely, rustic quality a little more, but Ashkenazy's interpretation is still very attractive.
I wonder if there is any part of Brahms's symphonic output which responds so well to diverse readings as the Second Symphony's first movement. Ashkenazy's method is to play the exposition (and its repeat) in a fairly objective, straightforward fashion, and to increase tension during the development section. This approach works perfectly well, but it is noticeable at once that the Cleveland Orchestra's brass section does not quite match the superlative standards of bygone years. The recording of the full orchestra is again a little overbearing in the upper register, and rather bass-light.
Ashkenazy's tempo for the second movement is slightly on the fast side, and his approach is once more fairly straightforward, though he does generate a stronger rhythmic pulse than one normally notices here. The remaining movements are well-played, again in quite an objective fashion, but without any particular distinction. Even the work's coda rather lacks its usual quality of triumphant symphonic resolution.
Haitink's modern version of the Symphony can be confidently recommended at full-price: Klemperer and Toscanini provide vintage greatness at medium-price.'