The first instalment of Rahbari's Brahms symphony cycle provided a good account of the Second Symphony, but a Second Serenade which was careful and deliberate to a degree (Naxos, 9/91). I'm now a little baffled that this was so, for the First Serenade on the new disc is first-class in almost every respect. Perhaps the last movement Rondo is a little slow and lacking in bounce, but elsewhere there's an engaging sense of high spirits and geniality. Often a performance of this work falls down in the long Adagio, but here Rahbari adopts an ideal, flowing tempo, and keeps the music moving while making the most of such contrasts as are contained within the movement.
The greater interpretative challenges of the symphony are also satisfyingly met by Rahbari. At the very beginning of the work he perhaps does not summon quite enough energy and thrust, but as the movement progresses tension soon increases and the symphonic argument is most satisfyingly unfolded. Rahbari slows down markedly for the big horn solo at fig. G, but otherwise his conducting is very well organized and organic. I felt that the basic tempo of the Andante was a little too fast to permit a sense of repose and reflection which the music can and should possess, but in its own, slightly bright-eyed manner Rahbari's interpretation is interesting and rewarding. He brings a similar approach to the third movement, and in the finale there is plenty of vigour and a well-managed, satisfying coda.
I would recommend readers to pay a little more for a supreme account of the symphony at medium price by Bruno Walter (CBS), but so far as the Serenade is concerned I do not feel that there is any point in paying more than the super-budget price of this disc.'