BaL 19.03.22 - Bruckner: Symphony no. 9 in D minor

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30 Building a Library
William Mival compares recordings of Bruckner’s Symphony No 9 in D minor and chooses his favourite.

Dedicated to ‘dem lieben Gott’ (the beloved God), Bruckner’s monumental Ninth Symphony in D minor was intended to be the culmination of his life’s work. Bruckner began working on the Ninth Symphony in the summer of 1887, immediately after finishing his Eighth, but he died in 1896 before finishing the fourth and final movement. Nonetheless, Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony is often performed as a mighty, visionary large-scale three-movement work. Shimmering strings and low brass start the opening movement, Feierlich, misterioso, followed by the scherzo and an achingly expansive adagio.

Available versions:-

Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Claudio Abbado
Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Claudio Abbado
Wiener Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado
MDR Sinfonieorchester, Hermann Abendroth *
Wiener Symphoniker, Charles Adler
Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Volkmar Andreae *
Altomonte Orchester St. Florian, Rémy Ballot (SACD)
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim *
West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim (DVD)
Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim
Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim (DVD/Blu-ray)
Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Eduard van Beinum
New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein *
Wiener Philharmoniker, Leonard Bernstein
Wiener Philharmoniker, Leonard Bernstein (DVD)
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Herbert Blomstedt
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Herbert Blomstedt (SACD)
Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Herbert Blomstedt
Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Ivor Bolton
Aachen Symphony Orchestra, Marcus Bosch (SACD)
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Sylvain Cambreling *
Münchner Philharmoniker, Sergiu Celibidache
Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino della RAI, Sergiu Celibidache (DVD/Blu-ray)
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Sergiu Celibidache *
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis *
Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
Philharmonia Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Gustavo Dudamel *
Berliner Philharmoniker, Wilhelm Furtwängler *
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Daniele Gatti (SACD)
Münchner Philharmoniker, Valery Gergiev
Münchner Philharmoniker, Valery Gergiev (DVD/Blu-ray)
Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, John Gibbons
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Michael Gielen
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini *
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Carlo Maria Giulini
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Carlo Maria Giulini (Blu-ray)
Wiener Philharmoniker, Carlo Maria Giulini
Junge Süddeutsche Philharmonie Esslingen, Bernhard Güller *
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam, Bernard Haitink *
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam, Bernard Haitink
London Symphony Orchestra, Bernard Haitink (SACD)
Wiener Philharmoniker, Nikolaus Harnoncourt *
National Symphony Orchestra, Taiwan, Gunther Herbig
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck (SACD)
Pro Musica Symphony Orchestra, Jascha Horenstein *
Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Jascha Horenstein *
Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt, Eliahu Inbal *
Orchestra de la Suisse Romande, Marek Janowski (SACD)
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Mariss Jansons
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Mariss Jansons (SACD)
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi
Staatskapelle Dresden, Eugen Jochum
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Eugen Jochum
Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan
Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Joseph Keilberth
Concerto Budapest, András Keller (SACD)
New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Otto Klemperer *
New Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer *
Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Hans Knappertsbusch
Berliner Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Rafael Kubelik
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Ferdinand Leitner
Korean Symphony Orchestra, Hun-Joung Lim *
Staatskapelle Dresden, Fabio Luisi *
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Lorin Maazel
Hallé Orchestra, Cristian Mandeal
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Kurt Masur *
Symphony Orchestra, Cornelius Meister
Wiener Philharmoniker, Zubin Mehta
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Riccardo Muti
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Andris Nelsons
Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal, Yannick Nézet-Séguin (SACD)
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Sir Roger Norrington
Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Oswald Rabasta *
Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle
Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle (SACD)
Südwestfunk-Orchester Baden-Baden, Hans Rosbaud
Bavarian State Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch
Philharmonie Festiva, Gerd Schaller
Tonkünstler-Orchester, Yutaka Sado *
Radio Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, Carl Schuricht
NWDR Sinfonieorchester, Carl Schuricht *
Städtisches Orchester Berlin, Carl Schuricht
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Carl Schuricht
Minnesota Orchestra, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski
Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski
Staatskapelle Dresden, Giuseppe Sinopoli
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Evgeny Svetlanov
Staatskapelle Dresden, Christian Thielemann (DVD/Blu-ray)
Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Georg Tintner
Berner Symphonieorchester, Mario Venzago
Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hiroshi Wakasugi *
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter
New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Bruno Walter
Philadelphia Orchestra, Bruno Walter
Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter
Wiener Philharmoniker, Bruno Walter
Berliner Philharmoniker, Gunter Wand *
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Günter Wand
Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester, Günter Wand
Munchner Philharmoniker, Gunter Wand *
South West German Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gunter Wand *
New Philharmonic Orchestra of Westphalia, Johannes Wildner
Hamburg Philharmonic, Simone Young *
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Jaap van Zweden (SACD)


(* = download only)

[visualnickmos]

Amazing list, as always. Thanks. Looking forward to this BaL

[Maclintick]

Amazing list, as always. Thanks. Looking forward to this BaL

Yes. Many thanks EA. Your diligence in compiling these lists is never taken for granted. It's very much appreciated.

[BBMmk2]

Many thanks, as usual, EA! I have one of LFO/Abbado, VPO/Abbado, Berliners/Jochum, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Maazel, and Fabio Luigi and Dresden Staatskapelle.

[mikealdren]

The first Bruckner I got to know from Horenstein on LP, I still like the performance.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Great list as always EA thanks..

“Achingly expansive adagio” . Is that referring to one’s knees at the end of the performance ? Perhaps some one could supply armchair music linked exercises to stop this unfortunate symptom?
I mean really …

[EnemyoftheStoat]

Great list as always EA thanks..

“Achingly expansive adagio” . Is that referring to one’s knees at the end of the performance ? Perhaps some one could supply armchair music linked exercises to stop this unfortunate symptom?
I mean really …

There's so much wrong with that pen-picture that it's difficult to know where to start. "Shimmering strings" - for goodness sake... What is this, Mantovani?

However, to judge from recent reviews by WM, I'm confident that what he'll be giving us is something more deeply considered than his "favourite" version. Well worth a listen, I have no doubt.

[Ein Heldenleben]

There's so much wrong with that pen-picture that it's difficult to know where to start. "Shimmering strings" - for goodness sake... What is this, Mantovani?

However, to judge from recent reviews by WM, I'm confident that what he'll be giving us is something more deeply considered than his "favourite" version. Well worth a listen, I have no doubt.

Is there a Mantovani recording of Bruckner 9 ? Or a Semprini ? An opportunity missed surely…

[Bryn]

Sterling effort, again, EA. Is there, however, any chance of indicating which recordings include one of other of the several completions of the final movent? I know of the Yalmi, Rozhdestvensky, Widner, Bosch, Rattle and Schaller recordings but which others are there to be considered?

[Petrushka]

This symphony means a very great deal to me and is, in my view, one of the great artistic achievements of Western civilisation. Consequently, I have 42 versions on my shelves as well as three on DVD and a few more off-air recordings. The off-air one I really want is the 1983 Prom performance given by Haitink and the Concertgebouw at which I was present, and which has so far eluded me, so if anyone knows etc.

There are many superb performances amongst this lot but, sticking to CDs, there are some I couldn't possibly do without and my shortlist would consist of:

Concertgebouw/Haitink (1981 recording)
VPO/Giulini
VPO/Karajan (live 1976)
BPO/Karajan (1977)
BPO/Furtwangler
Staatkapelle Dresden/Sinopoli
SWR Symphony Orch/Wand (live 1979)

If forced to take only one of these, it would have to be the live 1976 Salzburg recording with Karajan and the VPO. I remember listening to it live on R3 on a hot Sunday morning in that unforgettable summer. It is a towering performance that shows both Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic at their considerable peak. Once heard it will stay in your mind forever. DG issued it in 1992 as part of a set of recordings celebrating the 150th anniversary of the VPO and copies should be available from usual sources.

I would add that I will have no truck with any finale 'completions' and any recordings with weak timpani are at an immediate disadvantage so therefore ruled out.

[ahinton]

This symphony means a very great deal to me and is, in my view, one of the great artistic achievements of Western civilisation. Consequently, I have 42 versions on my shelves as well as three on DVD and a few more off-air recordings...

...I would add that I will have no truck with any finale 'completions'...so therefore ruled out.

As your are so obviously devoted to this monumental work, I am curious as to your reasons for ruling out ALL of them...

[Bryn]

. . . I would add that I will have no truck with any finale 'completions' . . .

What a shame. Bruckner did his best to complete it himself but did not quite make it. All the 'completions' I have heard share the vast majority of material, it being mainly the final section that calls most for informed invention. With so many editions of his various symphonies, it seems strange to me that one would dismiss attempts to present what he left, in an assimilable form, of the final movement of his 4-movement final symphony, especially as it cannot truly be said that he completed what would have been final versions of the other three movements. He was, after all, an inveterate reviser.

[Petrushka]

What a shame. Bruckner did his best to complete it himself but did not quite make it. All the 'completions' I have heard share the vast majority of material, it being mainly the final section that calls most for informed invention. With so many editions of his various symphonies, it seems strange to me that one would dismiss attempts to present what he left, in an assimilable form, of the final movement of his 4-movement final symphony, especially as it cannot truly be said that he completed what would have been final versions of the other three movements. He was, after all, an inveterate reviser.

I have the finale 'completion' on Rattle's CD but it is on nothing like the same level of inspiration as the rest of the symphony, sounding more to me like early Bruckner. I am happy to listen to it as a stand alone piece but as a finale to the Symphony No 9 it simply doesn't work. The three movements as they stand constitute a deeply satisfying experience and is better left, and heard, that way. Anyone else is free to have a different opinion but my choice is made.

[Darloboy]

Previous BaL choices:

Richard Osborne (June 1980): BPO/Karajan 1966

Jonathan Swain (April 93): VPO/Giulini 1988 + VPO/Karajan 1976 as 2nd choice

Stephen Johnson (Jan 07): NDR Orchestra/Wand 1993 (the BaL fact sheet for that year incorrectly stated that Mr Johnson chose the BBC Legends release of BBC SO/Horenstein 1970)

[Parry1912]

Thanks for the list, EA, but shouldn’t there be two Concertgebouw/Haitink (1965 and 1981)? The later one might only be available as a download.