BRAHMS: Symphony No. 2; “Academic Festival” Overture....

BRAHMS: Symphony No. 2; “Academic Festival” Overture. Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti. Philips 422 334-2. Muti takes a gracious approach to Brahms, with elegant, lean textures and forward-moving tempos. He gets some particularly ingratiating playing from his string sections, the occasional use of portamento adding sweetness to the line, in a finely honed orchestral performance. Actually, the playing might be too polite: Certain passages lack the muscular power, the visceral excitement others have found. Still, his understated reading is preferable to the heavy-handed Brahms so consistently offered nowadays.