Bruckner's 7th Symphony

[Barbirollians]

Just listening to Bruno Walter's account with the Columbia Symphony . I know the Penguin Guide never liked it calling it too " loose " but I am enjoying it immensely - I love the non-monolithic Schubertian nature of this performance. It may not be how I always want to hear it but it is hitting the spot today .

The more I hear of Walter's work - the more I love his conducting . There is such humanity in it.

[mathias broucek]

Just listening to Bruno Walter's account with the Columbia Symphony . I know the Penguin Guide never liked it calling it too " loose " but I am enjoying it immensely - I love the non-monolithic Schubertian nature of this performance. It may not be how I always want to hear it but it is hitting the spot today .

The more I hear of Walter's work - the more I love his conducting . There is such humanity in it.

I've not heard his 7th but his 9th is a thing of great beauty - particularly in the coda of the finale.

I wish Sony would do one of their cheap boxes of his Bruckner. They might even come up with a composite cycle of the "great" symphonies" recorded with US orchestras featuring Szell (3, 8), Walter (4, 7, 9) and Ormandy (5).

[Nick Armstrong]

The more I hear of Walter's work - the more I love his conducting . There is such humanity in it.

His reading of Beethoven 6 is overflowing with it. I always feel slighly deprived when I listen to other performances.

[John Shelton]

I'm sure it could be argued that "monolithic" is a post-Bruckner accretion. I like the Leipzig Blomstedt recordings that are appearing greatly, and Herreweghe's 'period' recording certainly lightens the sonorities (aand has a rhythmic fleetness). I do have the Walter in one of those old big Sony Boxes bought in an HMV Sale years ago - must listen

[John Shelton]

I always feel slighly deprived when I listen to other performances.

That's deprived, not depraved?

[Nick Armstrong]

That's deprived, not depraved?

Correct!

[Keraulophone]

Almost everything I've heard Bruno Walter conduct has seemed special, whether it be Brahms (Symphonies, Requiem), Beethoven (Symphonies, mono with Columbia SO/Philadelphia), Mahler (1,[8 recordings are listed in his discography, incl. live perfs!], 2, 9, Das Lied [9 recordings listed]), Mozart (Symphonies), Schubert (Symphonies), Wagner (bleeding chunks, Siegfried Idyll). I've yet to experience his Bruckner 7 from 1961 (there's also a 1954 Carnegie Hall perf. with the NYPO), but I've no reason not to expect it to be special too... and then there are his piano accompaniments in Mahler and Wagner, eg Wesendonck Lieder with Kirsten Flagstad.

Humanity is also the word I'd associate with Walter's music making... a quality which seems much less evident in today's performances; or is this merely nostalgia?

[hafod]

Humanity is also the word I'd associate with Walter's music making... a quality which seems much less evident in today's performances; or is this merely nostalgia?

I am two-thirds of the way through Riding and Pechefsky's biography of Walter 'A World Elsewhere', and I would say that 'humanity' permeated not just his music making but also the way he lived his life generally.

[mathias broucek]

Slightly OT but I recently enjoyed a DVD Celi's BPO reunion concert which was with Bruckner 7.

It's always lovely when the conductor is self-evidently happy with the music-making. There are some lovely moments where he stops beating and just smiles!

[Barbirollians]

I imagine that performance is about twice as long as Walter's !!!

[Keraulophone]

I am two-thirds of the way through Riding and Pechefsky's biography of Walter 'A World Elsewhere'...

I have just ordered it (£3 HB on the Bay). Many thanks.

[Barbirollians]

I am surprised in a way that Sony when it issued his Mahler symphonies box earlier this did not make it a Mahler and Bruckner set .

Must start on the Dresden/Jochum set included in that Icon box. I only had the 9th on a poor quality EMI LP from near the end of EMI vinyl and never really got on with it .

[richardfinegold]

Almost everything I've heard Bruno Walter conduct has seemed special, whether it be Brahms (Symphonies, Requiem), Beethoven (Symphonies, mono with Columbia SO/Philadelphia), Mahler (1,[8 recordings are listed in his discography, incl. live perfs!], 2, 9, Das Lied [9 recordings listed]), Mozart (Symphonies), Schubert (Symphonies), Wagner (bleeding chunks, Siegfried Idyll). I've yet to experience his Bruckner 7 from 1961 (there's also a 1954 Carnegie Hall perf. with the NYPO), but I've no reason not to expect it to be special too... and then there are his piano accompaniments in Mahler and Wagner, eg Wesendonck Lieder with Kirsten Flagstad.


Humanity is also the word I'd associate with Walter's music making... a quality which seems much less evident in today's performances; or is this merely nostalgia?

I'm listening to Walter's stereo recording of Mahler 9 as I type this. I also have had along time love for his Beethoven 6, the rest of his Mahler, and I think that my first exposure to the topic of this thread, Bruckner's 7th, was the Walter recording, although I haven't heard it in over 30 years.
However, reading the comments on this thread and the frequent use of the word "humanity" to describe the conducting, has made me wonder what we mean when we apply that term to a musical performance. What makes Walter sound "humane' and does that make other conductors sound "inhumane" in contrast?

[scottycelt]

I'm listening to Walter's stereo recording of Mahler 9 as I type this. I also have had along time love for his Beethoven 6, the rest of his Mahler, and I think that my first exposure to the topic of this thread, Bruckner's 7th, was the Walter recording, although I haven't heard it in over 30 years.
However, reading the comments on this thread and the frequent use of the word "humanity" to describe the conducting, has made me wonder what we mean when we apply that term to a musical performance. What makes Walter sound "humane' and does that make other conductors sound "inhumane" in contrast?

That's an excellent point!

It often bewilders me when some describe Bruckner's music in general as being 'austere' and 'unapproachable'. I've always found it quite the opposite.

However, I do think conductors can instill an 'atmosphere' in any performance. The genial Eugen Jochum did this wonderfully well with Bruckner. There is no Karajan-like closing of the eyes in deep reverence but instead passion and love, mixed with flashes of humour. I'm not knocking the Karajan approach at all, it works very well with this music too.

There is a video recording on YouTube of Jochum conducting Bruckner 7 in Tokyo which demonstrates that the music can still sound grand and magnificent whilst retaining every inch of its innate warmth and 'humanity'.

If any Brucknerian here has not seen this video, they should do so and give themselves a treat!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0F3cjPnEIA

[Keraulophone]

...reading.. the frequent use of the word "humanity" to describe the conducting, has made me wonder what we mean when we apply that term to a musical performance.

Interesting that Stephen Plaistow has just used this word in his BaL of Mozart's K.310 to describe Dinu Lipatti's playing in the slow movement. SP is invariably spot-on when describing the attributes of different pianists, so why did he single out DL in this way? Did no other pianist in his survey display 'humanity' in their playing? Was there any 'inhumanity' to be heard? - I doubt it; but it's certainly hard to put a finger on exactly what humanity 'means' in the context of any kind of music making. Solomon is, perhaps, another pianist who comes to mind.