The two
Brahms
Serenades were the composer's first orchestral works, and they are often presented in program notes and the like as preparatory exercises before the composer undertook the symphony genre.
may indeed have thought of them this way, for he was intimidated by
Beethoven
's example and did not write his first symphony until he was 43. However, they are also wonderful works on their own terms, and the composer esteemed them highly. They are light works that might be thought of as founding documents of neoclassicism, and giving them too much weight drains the life out of them. Conductor
Victor Julien-Laferriere
avoids this in his delicate readings with his new
Orchestre Consuelo
, and he even goes well to the opposite direction, with tamped-down but still graceful performances. Is this "French"
, making him sound a bit like
Saint-Saens
? Maybe, and listeners can make up their own minds about it. For an idea, compare the final movement of the
Serenade No. 1 in D major, Op. 11
, with the performance by
Riccardo Chailly
and the
Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig
. Neither conductor digs too far into the galloping rhythm, but
Chailly
's reading has more urgency.
Julien-Laferriere
's interpretation is beautifully executed by the players, and this makes one want to hear more from this new group.
Mirare
's studio sound is a bit boxy. ~ James Manheim