Sunday Classics preview: Brahms takes a fiddle and a cello and . . .

We already heard the monumental first movement of the Brahms "Double" Concerto last week, and we're about to hear the gorgeous slow movement. Jumping ahead, here is the spirited rondo finale, played by violinst David Oistrakh and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich with Kiril Kondrashin conducting.

by Ken

I think we'll put the continuation of our consideration of Cavalleria rusticana off another week, and for this week pick up on a thread from last week concerning "double" concertos.

This is what happens when you trust to memory of something you don't remember all that well and never cared about all that much. For years i've been remembering that the haunting slow movement of Brahms's "Double" Concerto was for many years the theme song for The Guiding Light, or failing that for Search for Tomorrow. Now I actually checked, and apparently it was used for a few years for The Secret Storm, and I barely even remember The Secret Storm. Well, life goes on.

Anyway, nothing fancy tonight. Working our way up to the concerto, we're going to hear two more Brahms slow movements, more or less -- the Allegretto quasi menuetto of the First Cello Sonata isn't really a "slow" movement, but it fills the function of a combined slow movement-and-minuet. (In the compression of the classical symphony's and string quartet's typical four movements to the concerto's and sonata's typical three, it's the minuet -- or later scherzo -- that's dropped.)

BRAHMS: Cello-Piano Sonata No. 1, in E minor, Op. 38:
ii. Allegretto quasi menuetto
Gregor Piatigorsky, cello; Arthur Rubinstein, piano. EMI, recorded in Paris, July 6, 1936
Mstislav Rostropovich, cello; Rudolf Serkin, piano. DG, recorded c1982

BRAHMS: Violin-Piano Sonata No. 3, in D minor, Op. 108:
ii. Adagio
Jascha Heifetz, violin; William Kapell, piano. RCA, recorded in Hollywood, Nov. 29-30, 1950
Henryk Szeryng, violin; Arthur Rubinstein, piano. RCA, recorded Dec. 30 and Jan. 3, 1969

BRAHMS: "Double" Concerto in A minor for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra, Op. 102: ii. Andante
Jascha Heifetz, violin; Gregor Piatigorsky, cello; RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, Alfred Wallenstein, cond. RCA, recorded in Hollywood, May 19-20, 1960
David Oistrakh, violin; Mstislav Rostropovich, cello; Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell, cond. EMI, recorded May 12-13, 1969

And since it was Henryk Szeryng and János Starker we heard play the first movement of the Brahms "Double" last week, here they are doing the Andante, and what the heck, the finale as well.

BRAHMS: "Double" Concerto in A minor
for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra, Op. 102:
ii. Andante

iii. Vivace non troppo
Henryk Szeryng, violin; János Starker, cello; Concertgebouw Orchestra (Amsterdam), Bernard Haitink, cond. Philips, recorded September 1970

TOMORROW IN SUNDAY CLASSICS --

It's "Sunday Double Concerto Mania"!

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