Anton BRUCKNER (1824-1896)
Symphony No. 7 in E major (1881-3) (1885 Version. ed. Nowak 1954)
Stavanger Symphony Orchestra/Markus Stenz
rec. September 2018, Stavanger Concert Hall, Norway
STAVANGER CD SSO- 1201 [59:43]
Apparently the Stavanger Concert Hall is renowned for its excellent acoustic and you can certainly immediately hear how well the engineers have captured that in this splendidly warm, balanced and detailed recording. It would also quickly show up any deficiencies in the orchestra, as the contribution of every section is crystal clear, but to my ears there are none.
This is a generally fast, pacy performance, especially with regard to the timing of the Adagio. There is sometimes a lack of heft in the string sound, especially when the tremolo main theme of the first movement is re-launched, but in general this is a full-blooded performance whose briskness does not become too brusque or perfunctory, because Stenz takes the time to caress the lyrical phrases and encourages the brass to bloom, not blare. The third theme is jaunty but the concluding brass paean over the swelling E major pedal is suitably massive, its dignity serving as apt preparation for the Wagner tuba lament, which is stately and hieratic, but again, I miss some of the weight of utterance the greatest orchestras can bring to this most haunting of themes and it is perhaps here that I could wish Stenz had given the music greater breathing space, elegant though the playing is.
This is one of the fastest accounts in the catalogue, often by several minutes, and while I am not suggesting that it is necessary to follow Celibidache’s examples, whereby the Adagio runs for anything between twenty-four and over thirty minutes, something of the yearning and poignancy of this movement is sacrificed to achieving a comparatively brief duration of 19:34. Nonetheless, there is considerable cumulative tension in Stenz’s build-up to the famous peroration at 15:17, complete with cymbal clash and timpani. Truth to tell, I have heard more rapturous climaxes, but to compensate, the brass coda is comfortingly sonorous.
Oddly, given Stenz’s predilection for expeditiousness, the Scherzo is lacking somewhat in rhythmic bite and snap; for me, it needs to lean more ferociously into the downbeat. However, the Trio is dreamy and lyrical, whereas the conclusion sounds more rushed than emphatic. That urgency spills over into the spritely finale which, as ever, must guard against fragmentation owing to its episodic nature. I’m not sure that Stenz does keep it all together but he drives hard and the brass again distinguish themselves, contributing mightily to an exciting, if intermittently perky, ending which blazes as it should.
This is available as an LP, a CD and a download. It is a fine, interesting performance which does not displace favourite versions, particularly with regard to orchestral weight.
Ralph Moore
(This review is reproduced here by kind permission of The Bruckner Journal.)
