Finally – Norrington’s recording of the Brahms Symphonies are available on SACD and present these famous scores with new clarity and vividness. The “Stuttgart Sound” has revolutionized the way people listen to the music from the Classical Era to the early 20th century. Roger Norrington states: “Brahms four great symphonies are perhaps the absolute centre of the orchestral repertoire. They look back with pride to the magnificent 100 year old tradition of Bach, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven at the same time as they anticipate the next100 years of symphonic development through Bruckner and Mahler, on to Sibelius, Elgar and Shostakovitch.

For several years the Stuttgart RSO and I have been applying historical values to modern orchestral playing. We try to take seriously all the expectations of composers from Haydn to Schönberg. Of course we use modern instruments: yet sometimes that seems the least important weapon in a historical armoury. Most important are perhaps sound, size, seating, speed, and style.”