No one played Brahms like Oistrakh in his prime, equall parts granite and silk. Here, jaw dropping technique (e.g. double stop octaves leading into the recapitulation in the first movement) is only the starting point. Klemperer for his part gets a French (!) orchestra to sound almost like the Berlin Phil. For comparison, there is a later Oistrakh with Cleveland under Szell, but it pales in comparison, as the soloist had lost a bit of command over the next decade, while Szell turns in an endless supply of perfect notes rather than the music which lives in Klemperer's less anal efforts.
The voluptuously reverberant acoustic has posed challenges to all previous media, but not this reissue. Everything blooms as never before, as these flowers deserve.
Speaking of Klemperer, can you find a good tape of his Missa Solemnis? Another desert island recording which deserves the best possible sound.
