BaL 1st October 2011 - Bruckner's 8th Symphony

[Biffo]

I was fortunate enough to hear Haitink conduct Bruckner 8 with the LPO twice; the first time was the performance of a lifetime. I also heard Giulini with the Philharmonia in Nottingham. For some reason I found it unsatisfactory, for one thing I was too near the orchestra; possibly it was just me. Giulini/VPO is a magnificent performance but I am not sure if it is available on CD; I bought it as a FLAC download.

[Barbirollians]

England-v-Scotland and this - what a Saturday morning !

[mathias broucek]

Am sooooooo excited! Have 38(?) Recordings of this.

Love Jochum's Bruckner but not sure his 8ths show him @ his best. Best of them is perhaps the 1949 Hamburg (Haas - Nowak wasn't published then)

I like HvK's late 50s EMI more than either DG version.

Love Tennstedt's Mahler but the Bruckner is too brassy for me.

The Orfeo Kubelik (1966?) is pretty special

Horenstein is tremendous

Celi / Munich is amazing but not a library choice. Ditto Furtwangler.

Gielen is good but I can't see him "winning

Am dreading him leaving out some "unavailable" versions

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Am sooooooo excited! Have 38(?) Recordings of this.

Bearing in mind the length of the work, that feat must almost have coast you a second mortgage. I am excited too, even though I have only a single recording - Boulez.

[BBMmk2]

Have heard numerous good comments about the Boulez. Never at all thought of him as a Bruckner conductor! Mind you, as he has recorded Symanoskiw now, the mind just boggles! I should think it be the clarity of line, would be Boulez's recording?

[Dave2002]

Curious. On my TV it says "Summer CD Review ...." maybe it should say "Indian Summer CD Review ...".

Maybe October is still summer nowadays?

Ah well, i saw Christmas puddings in the shops the other dqy, and a few days before noticed that hot cross buns are making a come back.

[Nick Armstrong]

Have 38(?) Recordings of this.

I used up my 'amazed' smileys at Petrushka's 30 versions... Not going to bother, save for a "WOW!"

Was glad to hear the Tennstedt studio version get an honourable mention. I love it.

Gielen showed strongly but then dropped back. I don't know either the Giulini or the Wand.

Very good, sound and insightful BAL though. Such a blessed relief after the inane gabblings and gimmicks of weekday mornings...

[amateur51]

I missed the beginning and came away with the impression that Bernard Haitink has never recorded this work. Did he get a mention?

[Bert Coules]

I managed to miss the whole thing. I'll catch up with it later, but did the (splendid, in my view) Goodall BBC SO recording figure at all?

Thanks.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Never at all thought of [Boulez] as a Bruckner conductor!

He's very good, Bbm: if you like his Wagner recordings (as I do) you'll hear the same scrupulous attention to the score, a superb ear for Bruckner's counterpoint, and powerful momentum. Plus a "new" element in PB's conducting, one that, if I were talking about any other figure, I would call "mellowing"!

Another very good BaL, I was thinking until I read Am51 and Bert's comments: if Haitinck and/or Goodall were mentioned, they didn't stay in "the mix" for long. RO is such a good broadcaster: erudite without being "lofty"; passionate without gushing; welcoming without being "pals-y": and magnificent command of language.

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

I missed the beginning and came away with the impression that Bernard Haitink has never recorded this work. Did he get a mention?

Not once, amateur51. Despite the limitations of time (just 45 mins) to deal with a mammoth work like Bruckner 8 which has so many recordings, I thought Richard Osborne was an excellent guide. I've always enjoyed Jochum's account, but the reasons he offered for dismissing his DG recording were soundly argued. There will always be recordings the reviewer cannot include, but I'm sure Haitink, Solti et al would have been considered by RO in the first place.

[Biffo]

I also missed the beginning but didn't notice any mention of Haitink either. I have the earlier live Kubelik recording (from 1963), presumably it didn't come into contention as it is mono. The Giulini version I own is with the Vienna Philharmonic, not the final choice Berlin version. Of the other contenders I have Karajan with the BPO, not the favoured Vienna version but I do have the Wand performance that was highly praised. I also have the Boulez recording, recommended as the best single-disc version but must admit to not having listened to it very much.

[vinteuil]

RO is such a good broadcaster: erudite without being "lofty"; passionate without gushing; welcoming without being "pals-y": and magnificent command of language.

I quite agree - this was masterly.

I had thought I had enough Bruckner 8s (tho' not in the Petrushka/Broucek league ) - but was convinced by the broadcast that I also need (as I shall explain to Mme Vinteuil later... ) to add both the Giulini and the Boulez to the collection...

[BBMmk2]

Thank you Ferneyh!! I will add that to my growing list!!

[Bert Coules]

I'm looking forward to catching the item on the iPlayer, though I'm disappointed that the Goodall version (which I think was from a Prom) didn't last long in the running, or perhaps even get a mention. I've never heard Boulez's Bruckner: it still sounds like an uneasy combination to me, though that was also true of him and Wagner which I did eventually come to appreciate if not actually love.