Negative Positive
Title: Ponderous, elephantine, somnolent
Review: It's fun to run through the thesaurus of invective when you hate something and get a free shot at it. I'm glad for anyone who gets pleasure from Claudio Arrau's sleep-inducing "majestic power." Every bar of these two Brahms concertos is offered on a platter of self-importance, without the slightest imaginaiton or inner life. Arrau is the perfect curator for dead music, and if Brahms ever had a chance to lose his reputation for over-earnest clumsiness, Arrau nails it right back up. Giulini plows along in tow. There's a reason these recordings have been out of the catalog for a long time--they deserve it.
Is the review positive or negative? 