Prom 69 - 3.09.13: Beethoven & Bruckner

[edashtav]

It was played as though it had been written for the piano.

Yes, that's well put, Jean, it sounded to the manner born.

[Alison]

"Roddy"?


Hamburg PO (1939): 64mins (16'57"; 17'18"; 9'34"; 19'25")
Bavarian RSO (1950s): 65'30" (17'39"; 16'50"; 10'30"; 20'30")
BPO (1960s): 64'24" (17'35"; 16'40"; 10'02"; 20'04")
Dresden (1970s): 65mins (17'53"; 16'44"; 10'05"; 20'20")

Top info! Roderick Swanston (interval feature).

[jayne lee wilson]

Jayne: I have a slight acquaintance with Tintner's 1878 'Volksfest' finale, the filler for his version of '00'. Can't say it did anything for me on one or two listens. Is that the major change in this version?

Must confess that I have little enough time for proper listening to a good edition of each Bruckner symphony so am not rushing to hear the, um, less good/ 'least satisfactory' ones!

In fact there are 7 versions so wrap a wet towel round your head and read all about it here...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._4_(Bruckner)

But broadly speaking, after the first version in 1874, Bruckner wrote the new "Volksfest" finale and the present "hunting" Scherzo for the 1878 version. Then that finale was replaced with the one we are most familiar with today for what is usually called the 1880 version. So the most frequently performed edition has a completely different Scherzo and Finale from the 1874 one, and many changes (almost all improvements) to the first 2 movements. 1874 sounds over-elaborate, and all the changes tend towards economy and clarity (of line and texture). It can try the patience, but any dedicated Brucknerian should hear it.

****

What impressed me most about Petrenko's reading was its freshness and expressive flexibility. As in the first concert, an initially swift and light impression was soon offset by great weight in the climaxes, the brass splendidly clean and emphatic. There was great dynamic subtlety too, lending a very poetic quality to the start of the development of (i), and a carefully-built coda which ended with power and brilliance.
Those echt-Brucknerian string figures caught the ear throughout the truly con moto andante, wonderfully soft, clear and idiomatic. But whilst the climax was well-prepared, I did feel it was a little too deliberate. More performances should see Petrenko opening out the tone a little more here.

There was a much more obvious tempo variabile throughout the last two movements. This brought a lovely, quizzical humour to the scherzo but whilst I enjoyed most of Petrenko's manoeuvres, I was left with an impression that, for all its many convincing moments, the reading hasn't quite settled. But swiftness, precision and an often pronounced rubato (very quick for the gesangsperiode), didn't prevent the finale from achieving a grandly cosmic vision. A tricky movement which probably never quite found its perfect form, Petrenko made daringly wonderful sense of its vast and subtle harmonic and contrapuntal developments, those slight or sudden shifts of dynamics and tempo compelling one's attention. Played like this, those formal superimpositions - the cross-cutting of sonata, rondo and developing variation - persuade one of its elusory greatness. (And make one wonder if "endlessly seeking its perfect form" is precisely what it's about).

The Beethoven B Flat Concerto matched a crisp and cool soloist to a beautifully weighted accompaniment; no need for explicit HIPS-consciousness for this performance to be a success on its own terms, and the perfect upbeat to the Brucknerian thrills that lay ahead.

Wonderful pair of concerts, precisely and naturally balanced on HDs. Perfect presentation by Andrew MacGregor. Perfect home listening.

[mlb7171]

I found it hard to concentrate and be objective about either of the 2 Proms conducted by Mr Petrenko. I kept wondering if it would sound different if he was wearing a dress.

[edashtav]

Petrenko's Safe with Bruckner

I've added Petrenko (Proms 2013 ) to Ferney's timings:

Hamburg PO (1939): 64mins (16'57"; 17'18"; 9'34"; 19'25")
Bavarian RSO (1950s): 65'30" (17'39"; 16'50"; 10'30"; 20'30")
BPO (1960s): 64'24" (17'35"; 16'40"; 10'02"; 20'04")
Dresden (1970s): 65mins (17'53"; 16'44"; 10'05"; 20'20")
Petrenko (2013) 64' 00"(17'38 ; 15'04" ; 10'31" ; 20'47")

Petrenko looks around par on this Romantic golf course where all the members are male.

On balance, I found nothing to frighten this old nag and very much to admire. Having listened all the way through, I concur with Petrushka:

However, I think that Petrenko's reading tonight of the 4th displayed a maturity beyond his years. I was afraid, as I put above, of 'a young man's impatience' but there was little or no sign of that and I thought it a most skilfully controlled reading.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Petrenko looks around par on this Romantic golf course where all the members are male.

Phallus-free Bruckner is a rarity: Simone Young is (AFAIK) the only woman to have recorded Bruckner's Fourth (with the Hamburg PO), but hers is the 1874 original version so the 70min timing isn't really comparable (Inbal's recording of this version is 2 minutes shorter: he's faster in the outer movements, slower in the middle pair).

[amac4165]

I went for the Bruckner - but ended being glad I went for the Beethoven.

The Bruckner did not really amount to much - it was good in parts but overall came up short.

[Roehre]

Er, never heard 4 and 7 described as minimalistic before!

They were described as such in the 1980s already. I recall a critic in the Dutch NRC newspaper in 1985 (re the release of 3, 4 and 8 in their first versions -RSO Frankfurt/Inbal) as well as another one in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung in 1986. Especially 7 and 8 seem to be "favourite" to be called "minimalistic"

[Hornspieler]

They were described as such in the 1980s already. I recall a critic in the Dutch NRC newspaper in 1985 (re the release of 3, 4 and 8 in their first versions -RSO Frankfurt/Inbal) as well as another one in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung in 1986. Especially 7 and 8 seem to be "favourite" to be called "minimalistic"

...by some crotchety Dutchman?

HS (breve deeply before replying)

[Tony Halstead]

breve deeply

Brilliant...!