Recordings of Brahms’s Symphony No 4 come thick and fast. This one is taut, cleanly structured, perhaps a little underwhelming for those who prefer a beefier, more integrated sound. But the disc is worth snapping up for the two accompanying vocal works: the Alto Rhapsody, with the superb, pure-toned Swedish mezzo-soprano Ann Hallenberg as soloist, and the Schicksalslied (“Song of Destiny”). The moment in the Rhapsody, seven minutes in (of an 11-minute work) when the male voice choir joins the soloist, is always strange and surprising – as if anticipating a far larger composition. The men of the Collegium Vocale Gent achieve a beautifully blended texture, as do the entire choir in the Song of Destiny.
