My colleague Gary
Higginson recently reviewed
a recording by these same artists
of Bruckner’s Third Symphony, which
I have not yet heard. That too was
a live recording, made in the same
venue and just about seven months
after this present recording. Then,
as now, Simone Young seems to have
gone "back to basics", for
in the case of the Third Symphony
she performed Bruckner’s original
1873 score.
Here, she gives us
the original version of the Second
Symphony in the recently published
critical edition by William Carragan.
In the notes we are told that Miss
Young "accelerated its long overdue
publication after she made it known
that she would be conducting it in
2004 in Berlin, 2005 in Vienna and,
finally, in 2006 in Hamburg."
Despite that spirited advocacy, hers
is not the first recording of this
edition. Georg Tintner recorded it
as long ago as 1996 as part of his
Naxos cycle (see review).
I assume Tintner used the same edition
(I haven’t seen a score) which Naxos
bill as "Published Edition, 1872
version, ed. W. Carragan 1991."
Interestingly, though there are some
slight timing differences between
each account of the various movements,
both conductors take exactly the same
length of time, 71:22, for the whole
work.
Bruckner composed
his Second Symphony between October
1871 and September 1872. However,
subsequently he revised it several
times, firstly in 1873, then again
in 1876 and, finally, once again in
1877. Many conductors have performed
the work in Robert Hass’s 1938 edition
of the score, which is largely based
on Bruckner’s 1877 revision, but which
also incorporates some material from
the 1872 original. All this – and
much more – is set out in Michael
Lewin’s very thorough booklet note,
in the course of which he suggests
that one should "view the 1873
and 1876 versions as transitional
stages and not independent versions."
In the light of that statement it’s
interesting to note that Eugen Jochum’s
1967 recording (DG) is billed as using
the 1875/6 score, as edited by Nowak.
Two other recordings that I have use
Nowak’s edition of the 1877 score.
These are the recordings by Karajan
(DG, 1982) and by Giulini (1974, EMI/Testament.)
The main changes
that Bruckner made over the course
of these revisions are threefold.
The original version of the first
movement contained no fewer than nine
long pauses; in the revisions he eliminated
all but one of these. In the second
place he changed the order of the
middle two movements so that in all
versions except the original the scherzo
is placed third, preceded by the Adagio.
Finally, and most dramatically, he
cut 104 bars from his first thoughts
on the finale.
The effect of these
changes, and particularly the excisions
in the finale, can be seen by comparing
the timings of some of the recordings
– Simone Young’s and Tintner’s are
virtually identical, as I’ve already
commented. Note that in all recordings
except those of the 1872 version,
the scherzo comes third. Thus we have:
Jochum 51:55 (17:57; 14:05; 6:37;
13:17); Karajan: 60:16 (18:16; 17:40;
6:13; 18:07); Giulini: 58:40 (19:51;
16:14; 7:10; 15:11); Young: 71:22:
(20:40; 10:47; 19:32; 20:23). These
bald figures show at a glance the
tremendous effect made on the overall
timing of the work by the cuts in
the finale in particular.
I admired this present
performance greatly. Much of the first
movement is lyrical, sunny even, and
Simone Young moves the music forward
with a sure hand; it sounds "right".
The climaxes (for example around 4:20)
are built well and with a satisfying
degree of excitement. The pauses,
most of which were subsequently excised,
are frequent but seem natural. Once
or twice I felt the music meanders
a bit (for example between 16:00 and
17:30) but the beautiful playing of
the Hamburg orchestra compensates
for any momentary longuers.
The sudden eruption of the short,
brass-dominated coda is stirring and
emphatic.
The scherzo, heard
here in its original second place
in the symphony, has fiery material,
which is delivered with bite – the
trumpets are splendidly incisive here
– but the more lyrical passages are
nicely turned. The trio is graceful.
The Adagio seems
daringly slow and I note that Miss
Young’s overall timing (19:32) is
quite a bit longer than Tintner’s
traversal of the same text (18:00).
In fact, comparisons with the conductors
mentioned above are not out of court
since Bruckner made few alterations
in this movement. Both Karajan’s and
Jochum’s accounts take quite a bit
less time than Miss Young’s but Giulini’s
nobly sung version runs for 19:51.
Though Miss Young’s basic pulse is
challengingly broad her players deliver.
The string sound is beautifully rich,
founded on a firm bass, and we hear
more distinguished work from the woodwind
principals and the first horn. It’s
a long movement but Simone Young is
a persuasive guide and shows an instinctive
feel for Brucknerian style and for
the idiom. I warmed very much to her
patient approach to this movement
– for example the sonorous crescendo
between 7:00 and 7:35. Equally admirable
is the dynamic control and range of
her orchestra. A good example of this
occurs in the glowing passage between
13:28 and 14:37, which is richly intoned
by the orchestra. But note also that
in the preceding bars the sound had
been fined down almost to nothing.
The serene final pages (from 16:56)
are beautifully done, bringing to
an end a deeply considered and very
satisfying performance of this movement.
The finale is on
an ambitious scale and begins by revisiting
some material that we heard in the
first movement. As previously mentioned,
Bruckner subsequently cut about 100
bars from this movement. I wonder
if perhaps second thoughts were better
on this occasion because I have to
confess that there were occasions
during the performance of the finale
when I found my attention wandering
slightly. That’s emphatically not
the fault of the performers; I suspect
if anyone is to blame it’s Bruckner
– or me! However, the music is played
with great conviction and understanding.
Miss Young handles the tempo changes
and the sometimes tricky pauses skilfully;
one never feels a jolt. The final
pages are excitingly done.
Throughout this performance
Simone Young displays impressive credentials
as a Bruckner interpreter. She is
well served by her orchestra. On the
rival Tintner performance the National
Symphony Orchestra of Ireland also
play very well though I fancy the
Hamburg orchestra has just a slight
edge both in terms of blend and in
beauty and weight of tone. I wonder,
however, if Georg Tintner deliberately
cultivated a slightly more spare,
lean sound? Also I think the respective
recordings must be taken into account.
The superb Oehms sound is richer and
more full than the Naxos sound, fully
acceptable though that is. Of course,
it’s pertinent to say that a decade
separates these recordings, during
which time recording techniques have
not stood still. Incidentally, though
the Oehms disc is a hybrid SACD I
listened to it as a conventional CD.
The Young recording is taken from
live performances but there is no
discernable audience noise – and no
applause at the end. The notes by
Michael Lewin are comprehensive and
interesting.
The Tintner recording
remains a fine achievement and, of
course, enjoys a significant price
advantage over the newcomer. However,
on balance and if price is not an
issue, I’d be inclined to recommend
this Simone Young version as the choice
for those wanting Bruckner’s full
and original text. However, the recordings
of the revised versions that I have
mentioned still have their place and
should not be cast aside.
Simone Young’s Bruckner
cycle has been launched auspiciously.
If the standard of this disc is maintained
I think her cycle will be a notable
one and I look forward keenly to further
instalments.
John Quinn
Philharmoniker Hamburg/Simone Young 
[71:22] 
