BRUCKNER 6 BBCPO/MENA …CHANDOS 24/48//CD..
Beauty of line and tone, warm articulate strings, sweet songful winds, brass brilliant and blazing but never remotely grandiose….. wide dynamics with threshold-of-audibility pps, horns deep in the misty forest….infinite subtleties on every musical level.
A wonderful 6th from a conductor who really understands this music, exceptionally well recorded.
****
The beginning is very, very soft. So quiet that I doubted if the 2+3 rhythm would be clear enough to carry the movement’s momentum (so often a drawback in so many recordings). In fact this is one of the best I’ve heard in this respect, not only for its clarity in busy passages but for its lovely buoyancy too: one notes the little uplift on the 5th note of the 2+3. The gesangs are allowed time to breathe and reflect, with a lovely strings/wind blend; then the violins soar, tempi flexible but natural, horn solos evocative in their spatial depth and expressive phrasing. Spacious atmospheric sound, matching Mena’s conception which is poetic but never over-Romanticised, a certain tonal beauty cultivated, but exceptional clarity of line and argument. He carries the movement through from the midpoint of the development on a single breath - an essential part of the 6th’s symphonic flow.
This simply one of the greatest 1st Movements on record, tapping into some deep Brucknerian source, beyond Mena’s own vision. (After it, I always had to take some time before proceeding).
The adagio presents a different challenge: at 20’ it is one of the slowest on record - even Celibidache is only a mere 22’.
But Mena keeps things flowing, the evocative beauty of line and string tone (and those horn calls again) complementing the 1st movement’s quest and adventure. I usually prefer this movement quicker, presented with more volatility; it can feel rather isolated at this pace. But the mark of a great performance is how it can persuade: it won me over. (Mena's intense concentration convinces me in a way that Celi - a true point of reference here - never quite does.)
Mena realises his own vision in this adagio perfectly upon a very willing orchestra, and the sheer beauty and remoteness of it is of a piece with his conception. The third, funereal thematic group is the slowest I’ve ever heard; as if Mena is drawing us in to listen, not to him, but with him. It is profoundly searching, part of what makes this adagio, again one of the greatest I’ve experienced.
*****
Suddenly we awake to a very brisk scherzo - and a 14’ finale. So, a Symphony in two halves? Or three parts? That is a valid way of doing the 6th.
The trio is lovely - witty and graceful in its charm and self-quotations; Mena really understands this music, so he could do what he likes in the finale….but it virtually plays itself.
This is very fast, brilliant but thoughtful: those little clarinet counterpoints across the very start, the clarity of drumrolls; the way tempo and dynamic variations are used to signpost the structure with great intelligence - note the slow start to the development. Terrific brass power (always clean-edged, not remotely grandiose or monumental). Very wide dynamic range. One notes (as throughout) an exceptional subtlety in tonal/coloristic and dynamic responses: Mena has thought everything through, yet it never loses flow or momentum.
So, a great statement from an instinctive Brucknerian with a crowning end to an exceptional reading. (And perhaps the more miraculous for having lain in some forgotten Chandos Vaults for almost 10 years. But a Bruckner 6th of this character could have been a worthy icon in the composer’s crypt).
I hope Mena gets the chance to record more Bruckner, somewhere this side of the Rainbow.
Beauty of line and tone, warm articulate strings, sweet songful winds, brass brilliant and blazing but never remotely grandiose….. wide dynamics with threshold-of-audibility pps, horns deep in the misty forest….infinite subtleties on every musical level.
A wonderful 6th from a conductor who really understands this music, exceptionally well recorded.
****
The beginning is very, very soft. So quiet that I doubted if the 2+3 rhythm would be clear enough to carry the movement’s momentum (so often a drawback in so many recordings). In fact this is one of the best I’ve heard in this respect, not only for its clarity in busy passages but for its lovely buoyancy too: one notes the little uplift on the 5th note of the 2+3. The gesangs are allowed time to breathe and reflect, with a lovely strings/wind blend; then the violins soar, tempi flexible but natural, horn solos evocative in their spatial depth and expressive phrasing. Spacious atmospheric sound, matching Mena’s conception which is poetic but never over-Romanticised, a certain tonal beauty cultivated, but exceptional clarity of line and argument. He carries the movement through from the midpoint of the development on a single breath - an essential part of the 6th’s symphonic flow.
This simply one of the greatest 1st Movements on record, tapping into some deep Brucknerian source, beyond Mena’s own vision. (After it, I always had to take some time before proceeding).
The adagio presents a different challenge: at 20’ it is one of the slowest on record - even Celibidache is only a mere 22’.
But Mena keeps things flowing, the evocative beauty of line and string tone (and those horn calls again) complementing the 1st movement’s quest and adventure. I usually prefer this movement quicker, presented with more volatility; it can feel rather isolated at this pace. But the mark of a great performance is how it can persuade: it won me over. (Mena's intense concentration convinces me in a way that Celi - a true point of reference here - never quite does.)
Mena realises his own vision in this adagio perfectly upon a very willing orchestra, and the sheer beauty and remoteness of it is of a piece with his conception. The third, funereal thematic group is the slowest I’ve ever heard; as if Mena is drawing us in to listen, not to him, but with him. It is profoundly searching, part of what makes this adagio, again one of the greatest I’ve experienced.
*****
Suddenly we awake to a very brisk scherzo - and a 14’ finale. So, a Symphony in two halves? Or three parts? That is a valid way of doing the 6th.
The trio is lovely - witty and graceful in its charm and self-quotations; Mena really understands this music, so he could do what he likes in the finale….but it virtually plays itself.
This is very fast, brilliant but thoughtful: those little clarinet counterpoints across the very start, the clarity of drumrolls; the way tempo and dynamic variations are used to signpost the structure with great intelligence - note the slow start to the development. Terrific brass power (always clean-edged, not remotely grandiose or monumental). Very wide dynamic range. One notes (as throughout) an exceptional subtlety in tonal/coloristic and dynamic responses: Mena has thought everything through, yet it never loses flow or momentum.
So, a great statement from an instinctive Brucknerian with a crowning end to an exceptional reading. (And perhaps the more miraculous for having lain in some forgotten Chandos Vaults for almost 10 years. But a Bruckner 6th of this character could have been a worthy icon in the composer’s crypt).
I hope Mena gets the chance to record more Bruckner, somewhere this side of the Rainbow.
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