The great Italian maestro
Carlo Maria Giulini, 90 this year, has
gained a considerable reputation in
Bruckner. Surprisingly, in terms of
recordings, this rests only on Symphonies
2, 7, 8 and 9, although there are both
live and studio recordings of the last
three. Here we have a live performance
of the Ninth with the Stuttgart Radio
Symphony Orchestra captured on DVD video
along with material of approximately
equal length from a rehearsal.
I have never spent
much time listening to rehearsals on
record. Where they have been included
as bonuses on CDs, I have probably never
listened to that part of such discs
more than once. Seeing as well as hearing
undoubtedly makes the experience more
interesting. Giulini was over 80 at
the time this was made – he almost looks
it in rehearsal but not at the concert.
Nevertheless he has still had great
authority and there was obviously good
rapport with the orchestra. Speaking
mostly in German but with occasional
interjections in Italian (bravissimo!)
and even English, he can be followed
with subtitles in four languages (see
above). There was plenty of body language
and, repeatedly, Giulini asked the orchestra
to sing. For much of the rehearsal he
sang along loudly with orchestra whereas,
during the concert, instead he seemed
to be counting furiously and, fortunately,
inaudibly. Giulini ended the rehearsal
by congratulating the orchestra and
asking them not to overdo it at the
concert – "we’ll just play the
notes". One point about the rehearsal
that I found surprising was that it
did not seem to take place in the concert
hall itself.
Perhaps Giulini’s last
exhortation was humorous for, at the
concert, the excellent Stuttgart orchestra
did much more than just play the notes.
Giulini came alive and, in the front
view camera angle (from slightly below),
he looked quite demoniac in parts of
the scherzo. As well as singing superbly,
Giulini’s Bruckner tends to be long-breathed
and glowing but his tempi here were
not particularly slow (about 62 minutes
in total – the same as his 1976 Chicago
recording but about 6 minutes less than
he took in Vienna in 1988). He is an
absolute master of the difficult transitions
and uses slight, natural sounding fluctuations
in tempo unobtrusively. The effect is
one of great grandeur whilst retaining
organic cohesion. The emotional temperature
of the adagio was perfectly judged and
the concluding bars beautifully sustained.
Overall, this was certainly a performance
which "came off" and I detected
no significant fluffs. The applause
at the end did not seem to do it justice.
I almost felt resentful towards the
audience – didn’t they realize how privileged
they were?
In comparison with
other DVDs of classical music I have
seen/heard, the sound, camera work and
picture quality are perfectly fine.
My DVD player is a budget one and, despite
listening through an amplifier and speakers
of high quality, the sound is inevitably
not as good as can be obtained on CD.
The implication is that anyone in a
similar position equipment-wise who
has other versions of this symphony
may prefer not to play this for the
sound only. The documentation does not
specify the date or location of the
concert but includes reasonable notes
on the work, the conductor and his association
with this composer.
This seems to be the
first Bruckner Ninth on DVD**
and is conducted by one of the work’s
great exponents. Bravissimo!
Patrick C Waller
** Marc Bridle
reports that Both Gunther
Wand's RCA Bruckner 9 with
the NDR Symphony from Tokyo and a Karajan
one on DG with the Vienna Phil are available
. He thinks there
is now even a Sony
Karajan Bruckner 9 with theBerlin
Phil, an All Soul's day Concert from
1985. I have further located a DVD with
the Europa Philharmonia conducted by
Maximianno
Cobra and a japanes release by Takashi
Asahina
Will update if things become
clearer
Len
Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra/Carlo Maria
Giulini 
ARTHAUS
MUSIK DVD 101 065 [123 minutes] 
