Bruckner: Symphony no. 7 BaL 13/12/14

[Petrushka]

Why when the last BAL on Bruckner 7 was only done 8 years ago and we have been waiting about 30 for the Eroica - has this come round again . I wonder does anyone at CD Review check when a work was done last ?

Perhaps the choice of a particular work for a BaL programme is motivated by the availability of new recordings and the re-issue/deletion of older ones? 8 years is still quite a long time in this process.

As for the Eroica, any reviewer must quail at the thought of taking on such a task.

[amateur51]

People, people just ask yourselves when in doubt ... what did von Karajan do?

Go figure!

[P. G. Tipps]

Re the cymbal-clash in No 7, I doubt there was any great reluctance by the composer to include it as he did the same again (twice) in the Adagio of No 8 ...

I agree with Petrushka that it is not quite the same experience without it though the climax can indeed be effective minus its inclusion. It simply adds extra power and theatre to surely one of the most earth-shattering moments in the history of the symphony.

Furthermore, modern conductors, in true Bruckner tradition, are still requesting new cymbal clashes in some of the other symphonies. Peter Jan Marthe in the Finale of the Fifth ... no, not the Schalk ones! ... and Stan Skrowaczewski in the build-up to the final climactic closing bars of the Fourth, to name but two.

When it comes to 'improving' Bruckner scores some things never change ...

The finest Bruckner 7 recording? An impossible question though I do love the way Jochum brings out the 'earthiness' in this sublime work as well as the 'heavenliness'!

[Beef Oven!]

The finest Bruckner 7 recording? An impossible question though I do love the way Jochum brings out the 'earthiness' in this sublime work as well as the 'heavenliness'!

Any particular Jochum?

[amateur51]

Any particular Jochum?

Eugen I imagine

[Bryn]

Eugen I imagine

Quite. However, to be fair, there are several (at least 5) Eugen Jochum recordings of the 7th available on CD. His '60s DG set (on LPs) was my introduction to the 7th. These days, of course, I am happier with Norrington in this particular work. He doesn't drag it out, so so many do.

[P. G. Tipps]

Quite. However, to be fair, there are several (at least 5) Eugen Jochum recordings of the 7th available on CD. His '60s DG set (on LPs) was my introduction to the 7th. These days, of course, I am happier with Norrington in this particular work. He doesn't drag it out, so so many do.

I went slightly off-topic and was speaking generally rather than about a particular recording though I do love that Tokyo TV recording with the Concertgebouw. Clearly so did a member of the audience at the end as well! I had the DG recording on LP also ...

The Tokyo concert (old and poor video, i'm afraid) is on You Tube.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LTo-TwFIr_M

[Bryn]

The Tokyo concert (old and poor video, i'm afraid) is on You Tube.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LTo-TwFIr_M

Downloading, for later transfer to USB and playback via 'hi-fi' and large screen television, as I type.

[waldo]

Another one for the list:

Philippe Herreweghe, Orchestre des Champs-Elysees (harmoni mundi). Widely available as a new CD.

And on period instruments, too.

[Petrushka]

The finest Bruckner 7 recording? An impossible question though I do love the way Jochum brings out the 'earthiness' in this sublime work as well as the 'heavenliness'!

Jochum seemed to have a particular affinity with the 7th and I was lucky enough to catch one of his live performances with the Vienna Philharmonic in London in 1982 (the first digital recording made by the BBC, I think, which I once had on cassette, since vanished). The Dresden recording is the finest in the set and one of the best on record.

[BBMmk2]

This very sublime music of Bruckner's! heaven sent! I have a DVD by Karajan, of Bruckner's 8th and 9th plus his Te Deum. The other one I have is the Eugene Jochum but I am sorely tempted to acquire the DVD of Abbado/Lucerne Festival, looks like as though that should be a stonker!! :)

[waldo]

There's also the von Dohnanyi 7 with the Cleveland Orchestra. Part of a highly regarded ( though slightly incomplete) cycle starting with 3 and running all the way up to 9.

[Radames]

Celibidache!

The symphony is another magic product of Bruckners, though you can argue that the finale is a little on the short side after such monumental two first movements. But this is not the question here.

I have heard many Bruckner 7s live and by far the most outstanding performances were by Celibidache in Munich. The CDs don't do this enough credit, though they are for me the best versions around. The Berlin Philharmonic recording is outstanding too, more spacious still than his Munich recordings but with an immense build-up of tension.

Nothing else out there can really compete, sorry.

[kea]

Re the cymbal-clash in No 7, I doubt there was any great reluctance by the composer to include it as he did the same again (twice) in the Adagio of No 8 ...

In the original 1887 edition that was six cymbal clashes, reportedly. Which might have been overdoing it a wee bit.

I've never heard Bruckner's 7th, so this comes right in time for me to listen to the winner >.>

[Bryn]

The symphony is another magic product of Bruckners, though you can argue that the finale is a little on the short side after such monumental two first movements. But this is not the question here. ...

If the first movement is actually played Allegro moderato, as marked, the balance is not such a problem. The modern convention, however, has been to drag it out into something more like an Adagio, which is not what Bruckner called for.