Brahms: Symphony No. 4; MacMillan: Larghetto for Orchestra

The opening phrase of the fourth movement of this Brahms Symphony gives a sense of the newness that Manfred Honeck consistently brings to war-horse repertoire. While most conductors save the real drama for later, Honeck’s phrase is powerfully shaped, passing from sobriety to ferocity in 7 bars and assertively establishing the mood of apocalyptic pessimism in which this symphony closes.  The performance is similarly chiseled and compelling throughout, and finely engineered.