In 2001 Giuseppe Sinopoli
died suddenly whilst conducting; he
was 54 and had been principal conductor
of the Staatskapelle Dresden for some
years.
The present disc presents
his first Bruckner recording. Over the
following twelve years he went on to
record the third, fifth, seventh, eighth
and ninth, and was presumably intending
to complete a cycle. The fifth was the
last to be recorded and has received
considerable critical acclaim. Indeed,
it is undoubtedly the finest version
of that work I have yet heard.
When John Quinn and
I wrote about Bruckner Symphonies last
year (link)
I chose it as one of my top five Bruckner
symphony recordings. Before this disc
arrived, I had not heard any of Sinopoli’s
other Bruckner recordings and at present,
only this and the fifth seem to be available
- the latter is currently at bargain
price. As Marc Bridle’s obituary made
clear (link),
critical opinion has often been very
negative about Sinopoli but his Bruckner
had considerable virtues.
I probably have more
versions of Bruckner 4 on the shelves
than any other (twelve) and to make
comparisons with them all would be very
time-consuming. But I don’t need to
re-listen to others to express some
confidence that this is one of the best-sounding,
if not the best. The acoustic is perfect
for the composer, orchestra just far
enough back in the sound perspective
and the recording very detailed. Textures
are beautifully layered, aided by violins
divided left and right. Most of the
credit for the judicious balances should
probably go to Sinopoli - you can just
about hear every note that Bruckner
wrote. The orchestral playing is first-class
and one senses that the players have
this music in their soul. It now seems
hard to believe but this recording was
made behind the "iron curtain"
– how life has moved on in less than
twenty years.
In terms of interpretation,
there is a similar, objective approach
to the work that pervades Sinopoli’s
later recording of the fifth. My feeling
is that it suits that work rather better.
This is, after all, the Romantic
symphony and I suspect that most listeners
will want a bit more warmth and feeling.
For that, I would turn to Karl Böhm’s
1973 Vienna recording which remains
at the top of my pile. Klemperer also
takes an objective view of this work
(review)
– even more so perhaps and his tempi
were also often surprisingly quick.
By contrast, Sinopoli paced each movement
perfectly and he took no liberties at
all with Bruckner’s tempo indications.
Perhaps the most obvious comparison
is with Eugen Jochum in his recording
with the same orchestra in the same
venue made twelve years earlier. Sinopoli’s
and Jochum’s views are at opposite ends
of the spectrum: the latter was very
free and easy with tempi and was accorded
a recording that sounds rather crude
by the side of this one. Sinopoli wins
hands down.
For the record Sinopoli’s
movement time out as follows:-
(i) Bewegt, nicht zu schnell [18:47]
(ii) Andante quasi Allegretto [16:00]
(iii) Scherzo. Bewegt – Nicht zu schnell.
Keinesfalls schleppend – Scherzo [11:01]
(iv) Finale. Bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell
[20:56]
This may not be a first-choice
for the fourth symphony but it is a
rather classical and dispassionate interpretation
in very fine sound. Let us hope that
DG will re-issue the other Sinopoli
Bruckner recordings, preferably collected
together in an economical way.
Patrick C Waller
Staatskapelle Dresden/Giuseppe Sinopoli 
