Brahms: Complete Symphonies

"Recommended without qualification. This is a vibrant cycle, played with real ardour and extremely well recorded. It shows van Zweden to be a really committed and intelligent Brahmsian. There's not a weak link here: every performance is full of life and sections that can be problematic are triumphantly successful...van Zweden is consistently inspiring and imaginative." (International Record Review)

"I find Jaap van Zweden's direct, unfussy way with Brahms very refreshing. His robust manner and reluctance to pull tempi about result in a rugged immediacy which serves the music very well. Currently Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, van Zweden was only around forty when these recordings were made, having already become the youngest concertmaster in the history of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1979, when he was only 18 years old. As an exceptionally attractive and affordable introduction to Brahms' symphonies, this boxed set from Brilliant Classics could hardly be bettered." (MusicWeb)