Karl Bohm's DG Bruckner 8

[Barbirollians]

Is it worth getting ?

I ask because I fear my attempts are doomed - one seller sent a copy that went missing in the post , when I reordered it from another they sent Julio Iglesias by mistake ! I can only imagine the consternation of the Julio fan who received Bruckner 8 !!!

[Stanfordian]

Is it worth getting ?

I ask because I fear my attempts are doomed - one seller sent a copy that went missing in the post , when I reordered it from another they sent Julio Iglesias by mistake ! I can only imagine the consternation of the Julio fan who received Bruckner 8 !!!

Hiya Barbirollians, Yes, its a fine recording by Bohm of Bruckner 8 on Decca. However, my firm first choice is Gunter Wand recorded live with the Berliner Philharmoniker on RCA Red Seal.

[Petrushka]

Is it worth getting ?

I ask because I fear my attempts are doomed - one seller sent a copy that went missing in the post , when I reordered it from another they sent Julio Iglesias by mistake ! I can only imagine the consternation of the Julio fan who received Bruckner 8 !!!

I have that recording in its DG Galleria manifestation and as Stanfordian says, its fine. A combination of Bruckner, Böhm and the Vienna Philhasrmonic is self-recommending in my view. You might be interested in two other Böhm Bruckner 8's: one with the Bavarian Radio SO on the Audite label (I've not heard this) and another live account with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra from November 1978, just three weeks before I met him at an Albert Hall LSO concert. I recommend the Zurich account as it's a terrific performance.

[richardfinegold]

They all pale before Furtwangler.

[P. G. Tipps]

There are so many fine recordings of this magnificent work I often think the best performance is the one I have just listened to ...

However, I tend to agree with Stanfordian that, in the end, I would probably plump for Wand and the BPO. There is something gloriously natural and convincing about it, the conductor just allowing the music to flow at a steady pace.

Incidentally, just before he died, Wand and the NDR did a televised recording of the same work which is quite magnificent as well and which is now on YouTube. The four movements have been separately uploaded in 720p HD format.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtG3ct-iol0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxe5SoYgFbs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M49u848iy_w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pzTLk-thrQ

Well worth a watch (and it's free) but don't let me put you off Bohm!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Is it worth getting ?

Yes.

You'll probably have your own "favourite" recording, but this is a phenomenal work and Böhm and the VPO bring invaluable insights of their own. Very good recorded sound, too, IIRC.

[mathias broucek]

Worth buying the VPO recording - also the Cologne one in Bohm's GC20C (comes with a nice Dresden Schubert 9)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Conductors-20th-Century-Karl/dp/B0000AKPI7/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413362921&sr=8-1&keywords=bohm+great+conductors

The Bavarian RSO (Audite) one has a fairly major lapse of ensemble at the start of the finale. The Audite Bavarian RSO Bohm 7th is WONDERFUL, however.....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bruckner-Symphony-Symphonieorchester-Bayerischen-Rundfunks/dp/B000S0FSM2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413362994&sr=8-1&keywords=bohm+bruckner+audite

[Petrushka]

They all pale before Furtwangler.

There are, I think. four extant Furtwangler performances of the Bruckner 8, available on various labels, none of them, alas, in terribly good sound. By far the best, in my view, is the earliest of them, a recording made in the Musikverein with the VPO for the Reichsrundfunk on October 17 1944 (70 years ago this Friday) and I'm guessing that this is the one you mean. It is a blistering performance at white heat with the slightly acid sound actually aiding that impression. The trumpet fanfare at the first movement climax cries into the abyss as no other version does. The recording is worth hearing for that moment alone.

Two other recordings date from March 14 1949 (indifferent sound) and the following day (intrusive audience) both with the BPO. Another one from the VPO dates from 1954 (on the Andante label) in execrable sound.

If it's Furtwangler you want in the Bruckner 8, go for the 1944 recording. There is no question, in my opinion, that the circumstances surrounding the date of this recording played a major part in the interpretation that Furtwangler gave us. The Adagio is a lament for a destroyed Germany and its culture every bit as moving as Strauss's Metamorphosen being composed at much the same time. I'll be playing this Bruckner 8 on Friday.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

"Execrable sound" is part and parcel of much of the Furtwangler experience, alas. The 1954 VPO version is indispensible in that it's the only recording of Furtwangler conducting the Nowak edition.

[Petrushka]

"Execrable sound" is part and parcel of much of the Furtwangler experience, alas. The 1954 VPO version is indispensible in that it's the only recording of Furtwangler conducting the Nowak edition.

You listen to those Fritz Reiner recordings on RCA Living Stereo recorded in the very same year as Furtwangler's death and weep for what could have been.

The 1944 recording is the one I could not do without. It was actually my first Bruckner 8 and was, indeed, the first time I'd heard the work at all.

[Keraulophone]

Three of the very finest...

Three great recordings of this colossal work.

In this exalted company, even VPO/HvK doesn't get a look-in.

[richardfinegold]

Three great recordings of this colossal work.

In this exalted company, even VPO/HvK doesn't get a look-in.

I have the Horenstein, at least. It was my first exposure to the 8th. I still think it compares next to Furtwangler, mono recording and all.
Another version that I've been listening to lately is Janowski/Suisse Romande on Pentatone.

[Barbirollians]

I have the Horenstein, at least. It was my first exposure to the 8th. I still think it compares next to Furtwangler, mono recording and all.
Another version that I've been listening to lately is Janowski/Suisse Romande on Pentatone.

The Barbirolli is thrillingly urgent and the Giulini is wonderfully inexorable and organic - don't know the Horenstein .

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

You listen to those Fritz Reiner recordings on RCA Living Stereo recorded in the very same year as Furtwangler's death and weep for what could have been.

Oh, yes!

[mathias broucek]

"Execrable sound" is part and parcel of much of the Furtwangler experience, alas. The 1954 VPO version is indispensible in that it's the only recording of Furtwangler conducting the Nowak edition.

Some would argue the precise opposite of course.... #thosemissingbarsarequitenice

With Jochum there's the same Haas/Novak thing. The decent sound stereo recordings (Berlin, Dresden, RCO, Bamberg) are all Novak whereas his 1949 DG 8th in Hamburg and the live Frankfurt recording on Tahra are Haas