UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 2005
BRUCKNER SYMPHONIES: AN INTRODUCTION
AND REVIEW OF SELECTED RECORDINGS
by Patrick Waller and John Quinn
This article
was originally published on MusicWeb in February 2005 (link
1). Our thanks go to those who posted comments related
to it on the bulletin board (link
2). At that time we indicated that we were considering
trying to keep it up-to-date and we have decided to do this
by means of this short separate article which will be linked
both ways to and from the original. If there appear to be
contradictions between the two, this is because life has
moved on, we have listened again and views have changed
– so what is below now takes precedence. Having said that,
at the end of the original article we gave some recommendations
and our top five Bruckner symphony recordings - these have
not [yet] changed.
Daniel Barenboim’s
Bruckner hardly featured in February but then, almost immediately,
his “complete” Berlin set arrived for review (link
3). PW was more impressed than he expected to be and
this set is certainly very good value. Hard on its heels
was Skrowaczewski’s Saarbrücken set, even more complete.
Whilst being artistically preferable to Barenboim this set
is expensive and presently a commercial non-starter (link
4).
Quite recently
EMI have released some early Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic
Orchestra recordings and both the 7th (link
5) and 8th (link
6) remain impressive. PW was particularly taken with
the 8th which sounds amazing for 1957 and still
competes with his 1988 Vienna recording. Regarding the 7th,
he clearly prefers the early 70s Berlin version to the 1989
Vienna recording made just before Karajan’s death.
One of the recordings
discussed on the bulletin board related to Karl Böhm’s Vienna
1976 recording of the 8th. PW has since heard
and greatly enjoyed this performance. Böhm seems to use
a mixture of the Haas and Nowak editions and is quite middle-of-the-road
in terms of tempi. The playing is wonderful and the phrasing
has the same natural eloquence that marks out his classic
version of the 4th symphony. This performance
squeezes onto a single mid-price CD (DG 463 081-2) that
plays for just over 80 minutes and is a plausible library
choice for anyone wanting just one version of this work.
PW hasn’t yet made up his mind whether it even supplants
Wand’s last recording in his affections – some more listening
is required.
In recent months
JQ has busy reviewing other things and has been taking an
unintentional Bruckner sabbatical. He now has Haitink’s
recent live 8th from Amsterdam in his player,
so watch out for a review soon.
Finally, a curiosity
– Bruckner’s 3rd for piano duet, mostly arranged
by a very youthful Mahler (link
7). PW enjoyed this a lot – just have a listen to the
scherzo and you might be surprised. He hasn’t yet persuaded
JQ to listen to it but you never know!
Patrick
C Waller
John Quinn
Links
1. http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Feb05/Bruckner_symphonies_PWJQ.htm
2. http://members2.boardhost.com/MusicWebUK/msg/1883.html
3. http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Mar05/bruckner_barenboim_2564618912.htm
4. http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/July05/Bruckner_Symphonies_OC207.htm
5. http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Aug05/Bruckner7_4768882.htm
6. http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Aug05/Bruckner8_karajan_4-76901-2.htm
7. http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/July05/bruckner3_mahler_33005912.htm
