Bruckner - The People's Choice

[gurnemanz]

No mention of Walter yet then?

A couple of us put Walter's Ninth on our list:

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthread.php?1722-Bruckner-The-People-s-Choice&p=44816#post44816

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthread.php?1722-Bruckner-The-People-s-Choice&p=42807#post42807

For quite a few years the LP version of his Fourth on CBS was my only recording of the work. I remember enjoying it very much but haven't played it for ages.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Dave

didn't Eliahu Inbal do some of the different versions, e.g number 4. - not just different editions but earlier and significantly different music?

Yes; with the Frankfurt SO (?I think?) on Teldec. A set I've never got round to buying: you've prompted me to get my act (that's act, Chris!) in gear.

I notice that the most recent version of the Carragan "completion" of the 9th's Finale is "Rob's Essential Choice" at 11.00am on Friday 28th October: the Philhormonie Festiva conducted by Gerd SCHALLER. Worth a listen: I have the Naxos version, but I cannot hear the Finale as "authentic", perhaps because the three previous movements are so awe-inspiring.

Best Wishes.

[Petrushka]

Anyone have the live VPO Karajan 9th? Often wonder about it, heard them do it a lot on R3 back in the day...

I remember going on a hot date, summer evening, I let a student friend hear a Salzburg relay

I have two live Karajan Bruckner 9's both with the VPO. One from Salzburg on July 25 1976 was issued by DG in 1992 to celebrate the VPO's 150th anniversary and, for me, this is one of the greatest recordings of anything I've ever heard. Truly a miracle and it was broadcast live on R3 that Sunday morning.

The other live one is from Vienna in 1978 and was issued on the Andante label but the sound isn't as good as the DG. There is also a DVD of what I think is the latter performance.

The CD's will probably be hard to get hold of now but pay any price asked to get the 1976 performance.

EDIT: Apologies, FHG. I somehow failed to see your post before doing this one

[Dave2002]

This page might be of interest - http://www.abruckner.com/

There are downloads - currently sampling Symphony 7 conducted by Max Rudolf - though I suspect it's not a great performance, but heck - it seems to be free!

[jayne lee wilson]

Dave, I chose Inbal's original versions of 3 and 8 in my list (msg 37) and I can recommend them highly - 3 is much swifter and more cogent than Tintner, it's a great listen! The Rozhdestvensky set I mention has every version of every symphony, bar the 1872 2nd and the 1887 8th (abruckner.com made even this available later!) it's on the Russian Venezia label (it may have been out before on Melodiya), I got it from HMV Japan, sadly it appears unavailable now, but it's an amazing set in 2 large boxes. If you ever find it, don't hesitate - it was my exclusive listening for weeks in summer/autumn 2010.

Fhg

Still not got a full list up, but didn't Eliahu Inbal do some of the different versions, e.g number 4. - not just different editions but earlier and significantly different music? I have some of the recordings, bought to sample the differences.

Of course there is also a question of whether one would wish to have an imagined construction of number 9. There are a few attempts.

[PJPJ]

I have two live Karajan Bruckner 9's both with the VPO. One from Salzburg on July 25 1976 was issued by DG in 1992 to celebrate the VPO's 150th anniversary and, for me, this is one of the greatest recordings of anything I've ever heard. Truly a miracle and it was broadcast live on R3 that Sunday morning.

The other live one is from Vienna in 1978 and was issued on the Andante label but the sound isn't as good as the DG.

Yes, indeed, the Andante recording quality is poor, I think. However, that box comes with a fine WF B8, and Bohm's 7th is superb. The DG 1976 Karajan is shattering, truly great.

[verismissimo]

I notice a distinct lack of Barenboim in posted lists. What do boarders think of his cycle?

[Biffo]

In a fairly recent BaL Barenboim's 5th was the top choice (my personal favourite is Abbado). Over the years I have heard Barenboim conduct No 9 three times and on each occasion it was a disappointment. This has coloured my view of his Bruckner and I haven't acquired any of his cycle. I have read good opinions of it elsewhere though.

[barber olly]

In a fairly recent BaL Barenboim's 5th was the top choice (my personal favourite is Abbado). Over the years I have heard Barenboim conduct No 9 three times and on each occasion it was a disappointment. This has coloured my view of his Bruckner and I haven't acquired any of his cycle. I have read good opinions of it elsewhere though.

I see his DG set has recently been reissued at around £30 may be worth a go, although I seem to remember his 4th, the first of his set to come out got bad reviews back in the 70s.

[Karafan]

I see his DG set has recently been reissued at around £30 may be worth a go, although I seem to remember his 4th, the first of his set to come out got bad reviews back in the 70s.

Now, oddly enough, I have just acquired this set with the CSO on DG (I have his BPO Teldec box too - in fact three long shelves are devoted to Bruckner symphonies in my garret).

The 4th is the only symphony I have yet sampled and I was very impressed with it. Having said that, I found it quite a different 'take' to some of my other favourites 4ths. It was full-on, rather fierce (interpretation, not recording), bordering on the ferocious at times, especially in the lead up to the numerous climaxes. It was nonetheless enjoyable and rather exhilarating.

I had recently been enjoying Istvan Kertesz in both his studio (Testament, 1966 Decca recording) and the wonderful BBC Legends live 4th. Very bucolic and reflective, with woodsprites flitting merrily through the enchanted forest. With Daz Baz I fear the sprites might have been consumed by flamethrower, but all these interpretations I found valid on their own terms.

I look forward to checking out the rest of his CSO set. I always quite liked his 9th from the BPO set, Biffo!!

Bws
K.

[Biffo]

Karafan: As I said I haven't actually heard any of his recorded performances of the Symphonies. I do have a cherished LP version of Barenboim conducting the Te Deum and I have always loved him in Mozart and Beethoven, though more as a pianist. My favourite version of No 9 is Karajan/BPO from 1966. This was the first performance I ever heard and, for many years, the only one I owned. It is a problem with favourite recordings, especially when you have nothing to compare them with, that you tend to think that is how the work should sound. Perhaps I should explore more of Barenboim's Bruckner.

[Bryn]

Perhaps I should explore more of Barenboim's Bruckner.

Indeed you should, especially the later Berlin set. A real bargain, to boot:

http://www.thehut.com/cd/anton-bruckner/the-nine-symphonies/helgoland-barenboim-berliner-phil./8293334.html

[Biffo]

Thanks for the link Bryn, their price is £5 cheaper than MDT or Amazon.

[HighlandDougie]

Sorry to be the dissenting voice about Barenboim. I have various Bruckner cycles (Karajan/Jochum/the Barenboim about which I'm about to be rude) plus most of them conducted by Gunter Wand, along with recordings from a great slew of conductors from Horenstein in the 1920s to Jonathan Nott, Roger Norrington and Marcus Bosch more recently. In that company I find Barenboim's Berlin cycle to be more than a bit patchy. If I were to be snide, I'd say Furtwängler-lite, with little of what makes WvF's Bruckner so special. Maybe the Chicago recordings aren't quite so marmoreal but during the Berlin 7th (and 8th), I feel like shouting, "just bloody well get on with it". Very cheap, yes, but uplifting/thrilling? err ... no, not really.

[Biffo]

HD: I've just ordered the Barenboim set so I will have to wait and hear! I have the Jochum DG set, all 9 from Haitink (but not strictly a cycle), all but 2 & 3 from Karajan and various individual performances (Wand, Barbirolli, Klemperer, Horenstein etc). It should be an interesting comparison. I have heard favourable comments on the Barenboim Berlin cycle as a whole.