A concert in Baden-Baden's Festspielhaus ended to euphoric applause, with no one knowing who was at whose feet: The conductor the orchestra, the audience the conductor or all together the composer Johannes Brahms? The reason for the enthusiasm was his Second Symphony, nicknamed "Lichtentaler", because he had completed it here, in Baden-Baden's Lichtental district. And now, with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and its conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, it was given a performance that was one of the great moments in this house: orchestrally lightened, transparent to the core, but only seemingly embedded in an easily conquerable soundscape. The rhythms were constantly shifting. There was hardly a motivic turn that didn't immediately trigger a wave of syncopations, hemiolas and hidden changes of time signature, causing the musicians to despair of their stability. But everything was performed with the greatest naturalness: a rumble from the timpani, then the oboes called out into the open, the strings followed with a hint of delay, as if they still had to rub the remaining sleep out of their eyes. And what a climax the finale led to: an unleashed Brahms, an orgiast!• Brahms: I. Un poco sostenuto - Allegro - Meno allegro [Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68]• Brahms: II. Andante sostenuto [Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68]• Brahms: III. Un poco allegretto e grazioso [Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68]• Brahms: IV. Adagio - Piu andante - Allegro non troppo, ma con brio - Piu allegro [Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68]• Brahms: I. Allegro non troppo [Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73]• Brahms: II. Adagio non troppo - L'istesso tempo, ma grazioso [Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73]• Brahms: III. Allegretto grazioso (Quasi andantino) - Presto ma non assai [Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73]• Brahms: IV. Allegro con spirito [Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73]• Brahms: I. Allegro con brio [Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90]• Brahms: II. Andante [Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90]• Brahms: III. Poco allegretto [Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90]• Brahms: IV. Allegro [Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90]• Brahms: I. Allegro non troppo [Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98]• Brahms: II. Andante moderato [Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98]• Brahms: III. Allegro giocoso - Poco meno presto - Tempo I [Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98]• Brahms: IV. Allegro energico e passionato - Più allegro [Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98]
