Why Dohnanyi is so great

 

One of the greatest performances I've ever heard live was Christoph von Dohnanyi leading the Philharmonia in Brahms 1. This is, by and large, exactly the interpretation I remember nearly 20 years later. Regrettably, the second movement is slower, but otherwise, it is, now as then, illuminated by a grace that almost seems divine.

What makes a guy like Dohnanyi so magnificent is the same as others like Jansons or Bychkov, and before them, Klemperer and Erich Kleiber. Performance is neither about them nor some perfect rendering of a score that makes no sound (though Dohnanyi is obviously a stickler for the score). Ultimately, it's clearly about the musicians and giving each of them a space to be heard - to me, that is the single highest ideal of a conductor's art. Music does not exist to be a score blueprint, and it doesn't exist for conductors to showcase their own interpretations or ability to excite the audience, it exists so that musicians can share something they appreciate with an audience.

Dohnanyi's generation was particularly good at that approach - so many greats born between 1920 and 1935 leavened their antiromantic approach with a warmth that could only be described as romantic. But among them all, none excelled Dohnanyi.

Under Dohnanyi, everything not only comes through with clarity, but with a spiritual grace that, for reasons I don't really understand, many people allege Dohnanyi lacks. I suppose one can ask for a slight bit more rawness or flexibility, but just listen, by moderating the emotions just a little bit from what we're used to, it almost sounds conversational. Brahms's orchestral balances, so muddy among other conductors, emerges here with perfect clarity. Every instrument is heard, every note in every chord. it's like we're hearing some Platonic ideal and need no visceral thrills to be mesmerized. It needs no influence from HIP because the orchestras under him already incorporate the best HIP has to offer without the worst - clarity, orchestral balance, dynamic contrast, and rhythmic definition, but with the singing espressivo you can only get on modern instruments.

There are other ways to reach the top of Olympus, many greats find great spiritual warmth with a much more pro-active hand on tempo and contrast. But this is Brahms in its ideal state. It demands to be heard, and Dohnanyi's achievements demand all the attention we give to Abbado and Haitink and Carlos Kleiber, and maybe still more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhioJVdEjSg