Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73 Swedish Chamber Orchestra & Thomas Dausgaard

• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897): Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73:
• 1 I. Allegro non troppo 17:23
• 2 II. Adagio non troppo - L'istesso tempo, ma grazioso 08:36
• 3 III. Allegretto grazioso (Quasi andantino) - Presto ma non assai - Tempo I 04:50
• 4 IV. Allegro con spirito 09:03
• Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a "St. Anthony Variations":
• 5 Theme. Andante 01:50
• 6 Var. 1, Poco più animato 01:10
• 7 Var. 2, Più vivace 01:00
• 8 Var. 3, Con moto 01:46
• 9 Var. 4, Andante con moto 02:06
• 10 Var. 5, Vivace 00:54
• 11 Var. 6, Vivace 01:19
• 12 Var. 7, Grazioso 02:46
• 13 Var. 8, Presto non troppo 00:56
• 14 Finale. Andante 03:16
• 21 Hungarian Dances, WoO 1 (Orch. T. Dausgaard):
• 15 No. 6 in D-Flat Major 03:24
• 16 No. 7 in F Major [Performed in A Major] 01:42
• 17 No. 5 in F-Sharp Minor 02:36
• Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80:
• 18 Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80 09:27
• Total Runtime 01:14:04

Info for Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73

On a number of previous recordings, the 40-odd members of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Thomas Dausgaard have shed a new light on the Romantic symphonic repertoire, with performances described as ‘tight’, ‘invigorating’, ‘transparent’ and ‘thrilling’. Complete cycles of the symphonies of Schumann and Schubert have appeared alongside individual discs with music by Dvořák, Bruckner and Tchaikovsky, as well as a recording of Johannes Brahms’s First Symphony, released in 2012. The disc was named Recommendation of the Month in the German magazine Fono Forum, while the reviewer in International Record Review described it as ‘an account to make one hope a complete traversal is in the offing’. Five years later that hope is nearing fulfilment, as the team’s recording of Symphony No. 2 is released. Composed during the summer of 1877, which Brahms spent at the idyllic Wörthersee, it is one of his sunniest works, often compared to Beethoven’s Pastoral symphony. It’s followed by the Haydn Variations, in which Brahms was able to combine one of his favourite musical forms – that of theme and variations – with his deep admiration for Joseph Haydn. (Fortunately, the discovery that the theme in question, known as the ‘St Antoni Chorale’, wasn’t by Haydn after all was made long after Brahms’s death.)

The programme continues with other favourites in Brahms’s production, including his greatest commercial success in the form of three of the hugely popular set of Hungarian Dances for piano, here in orchestrations by Thomas Dausgaard. The disc ends in similarly high spirits, with the Academic Festival Overture and its rousing and jubilant C major coda.

Swedish Chamber Orchestra
Thomas Dausgaard, conductor

Thomas Dausgaard
is Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Chief Conductor of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Music Director (from the 19/20 season) and Principal Guest Conductor of the Seattle Symphony, Honorary Conductor of the Orchestra della Toscana (ORT), and Honorary Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, having previously served as its Principal Conductor from 2004–2011. He is renowned for his creativity and innovation in programming, the excitement of his live performances, and his extensive catalogue of critically-acclaimed recordings.

He regularly appears with the world’s leading orchestras, including in recent seasons in Europe the Munich Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra, Vienna Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Salzburg Mozarteum Orchester, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. He began his North American career assisting Seiji Ozawa, and has since appeared with The Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Washington National Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Houston Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, and the Montreal Symphony. He is also a regular visitor to Asia and Australia, appearing in recent seasons with the Singapore, New Japan Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and the Sydney and Melbourne Symphonies. Festival appearances have included the BBC Proms, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Salzburg Festival, Mostly Mozart, the George Enescu Festival, and Tanglewood. As a recording artist, he enjoys long-standing relationships with the BIS and Da Capo labels and has made over 70 CDs, including complete cycles of symphonies by Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Rued Langgaard, and the works of Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen with the BBC Symphony Orchestra for Da Capo. “Opening Doors”, his ongoing series for BIS with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, has consistently won praise for performances of 19th-century repertoire more usually associated with symphony orchestras. His most recent release is a critically acclaimed recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 10 (Deryck Cooke version III) with the Seattle Symphony. Currently, with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, he is completing a Brahms cycle and a project that combines J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos with a set of six newly commissioned companion works – both for BIS.

He has been awarded the Cross of Chivalry by the Queen of Denmark, and elected to the Royal Academy of Music in Sweden. His interests beyond music are wide-ranging, and include architecture, landscape, and a fascination with the life and culture of remote communities. He lives in Denmark with his family.

The Swedish Chamber Orchestra
was Founded in 1995 as the resident chamber orchestra for the Örebro municipality in Sweden and was joined by ITS current Music Director, Thomas Dausgaard just two years later. For the past fourteen years Dausgaard And The ensemble Have Worked Closely Together to Create Their own unique and dynamic sound and the orchestra’s quick rise to success hock put it firmly on the international scene.

A tightly knit ensemble of 38 regular members, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra drew ITS United Kingdom and United States debuts with Thomas Dausgaard in 2004 performing at the London Proms and Lincoln Center, Mostly Mozart Festival. The New York Times wrote of Their Performance: “IT HAS been a longstanding Complaint In The Classical Music Worlds That as recordings and jet travel Have shrunk the globe, an international sound speed Been fostered That speed filtered out regional differences in timbre and interpretation .. . And every now and hadeeth an orchestra Comes alongwith a sound That is surprising and fresh. The Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Led by ITS music director, Thomas Dausgaard, produced a distinctive and consistently vibrant sound … Mr. Dausgaard drew the Beethoven Into a high-energy Dazzler, driven by sizzlingly Brisk string playing, with Biting Brass Figures Giving the music a stormy edge and making the Neglected Fourth Symphony SEEM Nearly as titanic as the Third and the Fifth.”

Since 2004 the Swedish Chamber Orchestra hock toured regularly throughout Europe, drew ITS debut in Japan and Returned to the States in 2008 for performances in New York, Washington, Cleveland and across the West Coast America. Tour highlights in the lastyear Have included performances at bothering the London Proms and the Salzburg International Festival with Nina Stemme in 2010 and a tour of Germany in Spring 2011 Which included the orchestra’s debut at the Berlin Philharmonie. In Spring 2012 the orchestra returns to Germany for a tour with Andrew Manze and Soloist Sabine Meyer and the December 2012 Thomas Dausgaard and Nina Stemme Will reunite with the Orchestra for a special program entitled “Love, Hope and Destiny” which They goodwill tour throughout Europe and hadeeth Take To The States and New York’s Lincoln Center in Spring 2013th.

The Swedish Chamber Orchestra Continues to expand ITS repertoire and Open Doors to New Challenges, together with the ensemble Dausgaard speed recorded the complete Beethoven Orchestral works for Simax and embarked on a new project with BIS Which includes all the Symphonies of Schumann as well Dvorak Symphonies nos 6 & 9. Spring 2010 saw Their fourth release in the “Opening Doors” series with a recording of Schubert’s Symphonies nos 8 & 9 and Their most recent release of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 2. Speed limits the ensemble Into the realm of “high romanticism” with no less success or controversiality. Reviewing the CD the United Kingdom’s Observer commented “Bruckner underplayed by a chamber orchestra? For a composer Associated With The Colossal, Especially When it Comes To orchestral forces, it Seems an Impossible Contradiction. Yet When Played with the transparency, flexibility and individual character of These Admired Swedish musicians, the results are exhilarating.”

Alongside Their work with Thomas Dausgaard, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra regularly perform with conductor / composer HK Gruber and early music specialist, Andrew Manze, both of Whom spent several weeks a year in Orebro working on new Programmes with the ensemble. Through ITS high level of engagement the orchestra hock Additionally built up a FirstClass list of visiting artists Which this season includes Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Leif Ove Andsnes, Michael Collins, Brett Dean and James Ehnes With its range of repertoire and style the ensemble hock Established ITS own unique voice as the Münchner Abendendzeitung testifies: “Their acclaimed recordings of Schumann and Beethoven Have Made These three dozen musicians from Sweden Into a top tip … In Concert SUCH Miracles are Sometimes a disappointment. Not so with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra at the Salzburg Festival. ”

Booklet for Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73