With this recording of the Fifth Symphony Mario Venzago completes his
nomadic Bruckner cycle recorded for CPO. He returns to the Tapiola
Sinfonietta, with whom he recorded Symphonies Nos. 0 and 1 (
review), while other performances in the series have
taken in Berne (3 and 6,
review; 4 and 7,
review; 9, 777, 787-2), Berlin (8, 777 6921-2) and
Gateshead (2,
review). Orchestral standards gave been high throughout,
even though some of the ensembles have hardly been Bruckner regulars either
on record or in the concert hall. To some extent that mirrors the
conductor’s determination to bring freshness to his interpretations, and it
is certainly no bad thing if the intention is to avoid complacency or a
slavish approach to traditional wisdoms.
Few composers offer as many challenges as Bruckner when it comes to
performing editions and musicological decisions. If this leads us to expect
Venzago to opt for first thoughts rather than revisions, this has not
necessarily been the case. The Eighth Symphony was done in the 1890 revision
for example.
There are fewer issues of this kind with Symphony No. 5, since Bruckner
himself did not revise it and was prevented by illness from attending the
premiere at Graz in 1894, more than fifteen years after its composition. An
alternative version, largely the work of the Schalk brothers, was championed
a generation ago by Hans
Knappertsbusch among others, but is hardly heard today.
What then of this performance? Having recorded the complete cycle of the
symphonies, there can be no doubt about the conductor’s dedication to the
cause. However, this interpretation decidedly cannot be commended save to
those who are themselves dedicated enough to Bruckner to want to hear an
alternative view. Whatever the intentions were, the achievement here is
surely to make this the fastest among recorded performances, coming in at
exactly 60 minutes. Compare that with the following representative sample,
identified by conductor: Georg Tintner (
Naxos 8.453452) 77 minutes; Herbert von Karajan (
DG 4159852) 81 minutes; Günter Wand (
Hänssler Profil PH 06012) 76 minutes; Nikolaus
Harnoncourt (
RCA Red Seal 82876 60749 ) 73 minutes and
Sergiu Celibidache (EMI 556691 2 -
review;
review) 87 minutes.
Tempo is not everything, and within any span of time a performance will
reflect the ebb and flow, the tension and relaxation of the musical
structure and expression. With Venzago’s Fifth, the music always felt as
though it was being pushed forward no matter what. There was little of the
careful shaping of phrases and paragraphs that mark out a great performance.
The playing is fine, some of it distinguished, such as the contribution of
the principal horn. However from first movement to finale the general effect
is that the music is rushed. I say this even if in some of the alternatives
(no names mentioned) the pacing can go the other way and feel extremely
broad.
While there is a danger in wishing a great symphony to sound as expected
from already known recordings and live performances, my response to this new
issue is unequivocal: Venzago misses the sense of awe, majesty and symphonic
power that lie at the heart of Bruckner’s vision.
Terry Barfoot
