Multivariate Life - imbued with the Bruckner Sound

New vinyl box-set of Giulini's Bruckner 7-9; 朱里尼限量版黑膠套裝

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 00:48:00 +0000

DG 將會在今年六月推出朱里尼指揮維也納愛樂的布魯克納第七（錄於1986年）、第八（錄於1984年）及第九（錄於1988年）交響曲錄音的限量版黑膠套裝。

除了限量之外, 這黑膠套裝有以下值得收藏的特點：

1）這是DG 第一次把這三個錄音以黑膠套裝形式發行。

2）因為在1989年初發行第九交響曲錄音的黑膠時, 黑膠的主流地位已給CD取替, 所以這錄音之前是沒有DG的黑膠的。

3）另一賣點是由 Rainer Maillard 和 Sidney C. Meyer 在 Emil Berliner Studios 的新混音, 也讓不少人期待。

DG will issue a new box-set of vinyl that includes Giulini's sonorous and memorable VPO recordings of Bruckner's 7th, 8th and 9th symphonies in June. Apart from it being a limited numbered edition, it has the following attractive points:

1) This is the first time DG issues this 3 recordings in a box-set of vinyl.

2) When the recording of B9 was first issued in 1989, the golden era of LPs had ended with the advent of CDs. As such this recording was not issued by DG in the form of vinyl before, and it is in 2024 that DG will first issue this recording in the format of LP.

3) These 3 recordings were newly mixed by Rainer Maillard and Sidney C. Meyer from the Emil Berliner Studios.

Below are the pictures of the previous issues of DG vinyl and CDs.

下圖為當年第七及第八交響曲DG的黑膠及第九的CD。

The Red Book - Anton Bruckner , Eleven Symphonies

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 18:25:00 +0000

This book is definitely a labour of love from Professor William Carragan, and as such it is unmissable.

Find out more from the following link:
The Red Book

Bruckner Ninth Finale Completions

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Fri, 10 May 2019 05:01:00 +0000

Sometimes in life, you really need a little push to do something you have been thinking to do but did not actually do it for whatever reasons or excuses.

This is exactly the case with my homework of a summary of the status of the Finale completion of Bruckner’s unfinished symphony, the Ninth, and its relevant recordings.

Thanks to my good friend who suggested a meeting to discuss this topic, I have been taking an organised look at this interesting and controversial topic for the past week, at long last.

In retrospect, my first encounter with these recordings was a little more than 30 years ago. What excitement the 2 recordings, by Yoav Talmi on the Carragan Finale completion, and Eliahu Inbal on an early draft of the Samale and Mazzuca Finale completion respectively, have given me when they were first released in the late 1980s, is pure nostalgia.

More later.

P.S. Two recordings not shown are downloads, one of them is the very attractive completion attempt by Letocart, and another is Soudant conducting the Utrecht Symphony Orchestra on an early Carragan completion.

Gerd Schaller has recorded 3 versions of the completed finale of the Ninth

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 18:33:00 +0000

Not many conductors have recorded the completed Finale of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9, yet Gerd Schaller has recordings of it in three different versions, in August 2010, July 2016 and July 2018 respectively. In the first one he used the completion by William Carragan, and in the remaining two the completion by himself, with the last one a revised version of his earlier attempt at the completion. One will be interested to know what Schaller has revised in such a short interval of some two years. The main difference, among other minor ones, is in the apotheosis of the coda. In the first version, Schaller combined music from the 4^th to 8^th Symphonies and from the Helgoland and Te Deum with music from the first three movements of the Ninth. In the revised version, he changed his mind and “refrained from making direct allusions to other symphonies by Bruckner, mainly because there is no firm evidence to suggest that Bruckner himself planned such citations in the apotheosis of the finale”. Instead he combined the Te Deum motif with the Schlussgrupe chorale and a modified form of the main theme of the opening movement, and towards the end he wrote a triumphant motif in the trumpets and woodwind. Which is more convincing? I’ll leave it to you to judge.

The coda is everyone’s guess, no matter how educated a guess it is. No one can claim how authentic a particular attempted completion of the coda is. Put it bluntly, it just depends on the listener’s taste and predilection.

Happy Birthday Maestro Janowski

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Sun, 18 Feb 2018 06:29:00 +0000

Today is the birthday of Marek Janowski, a venerable Brucknerian.

His Bruckner symphonies cycle has given me hours and hours of pleasure and gratitude for that matter.

Having attended his Bruckner concert and then got his autograph is one of the highlights in my Brucknerian journey in life.

His 9 Bruckner symphonies on SACD

La discothèque idéale de Diapason Vol. XI

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Sun, 31 Dec 2017 12:52:00 +0000

La discothèque idéale de Diapason Volume XI is dedicated to symphonies and massess composed by Anton Bruckner.

Its contents were listed in my last post. As you can see, they are mainly historical recordings and have all been released commercially before.

In this post, I've included pictures of their previous corresponding releases, most being original releases, on LPs and/or CDs. From these pictures, you can see that this box is a real bargain in the sense that many of these recordings are not easy to obtain in the past. The selections are all worthy of their place. I can boldly say that this is the best Bruckner box set released in 2017.

This box has the generic design from this series.

Bruckner 1: Georg Ludwig Jochum (1956)

Bruckner 2: Franz Konwitschny (1951)

Bruckner 3: Kurt Sanderling (1963)

Bruckner 4: Hermann Abendroth (1949)

Bruckner 5: Hermann Abendroth (1949)

Bruckner 6: F Charles Adler (1952)

Bruckner 7: Karl Böhm (1943)

Bruckner 7: Eugen Jochum (1952)

Bruckner 8: Wilhelm Furtwängler (1944) (CDs)

Bruckner 8: Wilhelm Furtwängler (1944) (LPs)

Bruckner 9: Eduard van Beinum (1956)

Bruckner 9: Wilhelm Furtwängler (1944) (CDs)

Bruckner 9: Wilhelm Furtwängler (1944) (LPs)

Bruckner Mass No. 3: Eugen Jochum (1962)

La Discothèque idéale de diapason: Bruckner (Intro)

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 04:11:00 +0000

Now it is Anton Bruckner's turn in the La Discothèque idéale de diapason series.

New release of another historical Bruckner box set:

La Discothèque idéale de diapason Volume XI: Bruckner symphonies et messes.

Contents:

B1: Georg Ludwig Jochum

B2: Konwitschny

B3: Kurt Sanderling

B4: Abendroth

B5 (2 versions): Abendroth & Eugen Jochum

B6: Adler

B7 (2 versions): Eugen Jochum & Karl Böhm

B8: Furtwängler

B9 (2 versions): Furtwängler & van Beinum

Te Deum (2 versions): Karajan & Andreae

Overture: Adler

Mass 1: Adler

Mass 2: Marcus Creed

Mass 3: Eugen Jochum

Quintet: Amadeus Quartet

Physical discs appear to be available only from France at the moment. In other areas, streaming is available online.

Anton Bruckner - The Collection from Profil will get an update

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Sat, 10 Jun 2017 05:40:00 +0000

Four years ago, Profil issued a box set of 20 CDs called "Anton Bruckner - The Collection" (PH 13007) which included all the symphonies and some choral works and chamber and instrumental music by the great composer.

In the not so distant future, this box set will get an "update" or "revision" as they like to call it (PH 16059). It will include 3 more CDs to become a 23-CD box set. These three CDs are Symphony No. 9 with completion by Gerd Schaller (CD13 & CD14) and Psalm 146 and Organ Works, also by Schaller and Philharmonischer Chor Munchen together with Philharmonie Festiva (CD15).

Apart from these addtions, there are changes to the recordings of 3 symphonies, the F minor ("00"), the D minor "Annulled" ("0") and No. 7. The first 2 were previously those of Georg Tinter's, with Royal Scottish National Orchestra and National Orchestra of Ireland, and the No. 7 was that of Ahronovitch's, with the Güzenich-Orchester Köln. Now they are replaced by those by Philharmonie Festiva conducted by Gerd Schaller. Other recordings are the same as the original box set.

If you already have Schaller's respective additions, which have been issued separately, to this "revised" box set, then the new box set may not be attractive to you at all.

Furtwängler’s EMI Beethoven symphonies LP box sets

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Wed, 03 May 2017 08:26:00 +0000

While most people will prefer Furtwangler's live concerts recordings to his studio ones, one cannot deny the fact that these final studio recordings of Beethoven symphonies were well-played and well-recorded. They may lack the urgency and angst of his wartime renditions, but they exude considerable charm on their own. EMI’s plan to have a full Beethoven symphonies cycle was foiled when Furtwängler died in 1954, and Symphony Nos. 2, 8 and 9 were yet to be recorded. Fate has it that the first EMI post-war Beethoven symphonies set went to Karajan and the Philharmonia instead, issued in 1956.

It was not until 1979 that EMI Electrola issued the first complete set of the Beethoven symphonies conducted by Furtwängler.

The fate of each of the three missing symphonies by the time Furtwängler died in 1954 differs. For the Ninth, EMI turned to the July 1951 concerts during the reopening of the Bayreuth Festival after the war, and the famous set of 2 LPs, HMV ALP 1286-7, now asking almost ridiculous prices in the second-hand market, was issued in November 1955. For the Eighth, it was originally thought that no broadcast recordings survived (the same with the Second), yet in 1972 the Wilhelm Furtwängler Society together with Unicorn issued a recently discovered 1948 Stockholm Philharmonic broadcast on LP, WFS 5, and in the same year, German EMI Electrola issued the same performance on 1C 053-93533. The French EMI Pathé might have thought a broadcast recording of the Second would never be found when in 1977 it issued a Beethoven set of 8 symphonies, 2 overtures, the Violin Concerto and 2 Romances with Menuhin, the Piano Concerto No. 5 with Fischer, and a Fidelio in a nice 13-LP set. The world had to wait for another 2 years before the final missing piece of the puzzle was discovered, a 1948 Vienna Philharmonic broadcast of Symphony No. 2. Thus 1979 saw the first complete Furtwängler Beethoven symphonies set on LP issued on EMI Electrola.

Furtwängler’s complete Beethoven symphonies CD sets have been widely documented, but strangely, their counterparts on LP were often only covered in a piecemeal manner. The following is a brief introduction of 4 “complete” sets issued between 1977 and 1986. It does not pretend to be exhaustive as I don’t have the Japanese set issued in 1983, Toshiba EAC 47240-6, at the moment.

1977 EMI Pathé 2C 153 52540-52 (13 LPs)

Pros: Includes 8 Symphonies, 2 Overtures, the Violin Concerto and 2 Romances with Menuhin, the Piano Concerto No. 5 with Fischer, and a Fidelio. Nice packaging. Nice booklet with essays by Rémi Jacobs. Attractive, warm sound.

Cons: Lacks Symphony No. 2 (yet to be discovered at that time).The Eroica’s Scherzo was severed and placed onto 2 sides. Essay in French only.

1979 EMI Electrola 1C 149 53432-9M (8 LPs)

Pros: The first complete set of all 9 symphonies. Includes 4 Overtures. No split within movements. Essay by Karl Schumann in German and English.

Cons: Symphony No. 2 is split on 2 records.

1979 EMI Italiana 3C 153 53600/06M (7 LPs)

Pros: Each symphony on one record. Essay by Paolo Isolta in both Italian and English. Box looks grand.

Cons: The Funeral March of the Eroica is split into 2 parts and put onto 2 sides. Includes only one Overture, the Coriolan.

1986 EMI Electrola 137 2906603 (6 LPs)

Digital remastering: No 9 in 1984; Nos. 5&6 in 1985; the rest in 1986. DMM technology.

Pros: Very nice essay by Hans-Hubert Schönzeler in German and English (with translations into French and Italian too). No splits within movements. Easier to get used copies, and relatively inexpensive.

Cons: Narrower grooves may compromise sound (9 Symphonies and 4 Overtures cramped in only 6 LPs), and in fact they do. Odd and sometimes inconvenient grouping of symphonies and movements, e.g. Symphony No. 9 is split onto 3 records.

Listening to these vinyls is a valuable experience.

Furtwängler's St. Matthew Passion

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 16:25:00 +0000

Flashback to 14-17 April 1954

Sixty-three years ago today, Furtwängler conducted the Wiener Philharmoniker in a performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) in the Konzerthaus, Vienna. The soloists included Anton Dermota, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Elisabeth Grümmer, Marga Höffgen and Otto Edelmann and the choirs were the Wiener Singakademie and Wiener Sängerknaben. It was one of the 4 consecutive nights from 14 to 17 April when this Passion was performed during Easter.

Furtwängler has performed the St. Matthew Passion a total of 37 times during his life, 26 times before and 11 times after World War II.

Furtwängler’s view on Bach

He held Bach in extremely high regard. He has written: “He remains today what he has always been – the divine creator on his throne above the clouds, beyond the reach of all others”. “His music exudes a supreme serenity and assurance, the product of a perfect blend of melodic, rhythmic and harmonic elements which never ceases to amaze us.” And referring to the St. Matthew Passion, he remarked: “In no other works does a single ethos hold such complete sway from beginning to end, an ethos that issues from the very heart, the very soul of their creator.” (Furtwängler on Music, edited and translated by Ronald Taylor, Scolar Press, 1991)

Apple of discord

St. Matthew Passion is also the piece of music that attracted much discussion concerning his feud with Herbert von Karajan. 1950 was the 200th anniversary of Bach’s death. A Bach Festival would be held in June in Vienna. Furtwängler had expressed a wish to perform the St Matthew Passion at a relatively short notice but the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde refused to place its choir, the Wiener Singverein, to Furtwängler’s disposal because this choir was to perform with Karajan in the coming Bach Festival and that he was said to have had 50 rehearsals with this choir. This certainly infuriated Furtwängler and he at once resigned from his post of Concert Director (Konzertdirektor) and his honorary membership of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. Thus the performance of this Passion in 1952 and 1954 took place in the Konzerthaus rather than the Musikverein.

Source Tapes and Recording Date(s)

As mentioned by Olsen in his discography, according to Christoph Nolte and Friedhelm Schöning in Berlin, there were 3 complete recordings of Furtwängler’s 1954 St. Matthew Passion stored in the archive of Electrola GmbH, the German branch of EMI. The concerts were recorded by EMI engineers for broadcast in German radio stations.

As such, it is natural that enthusiasts will compare the first commercial CD release by EMI in 1995 (CHS 5655092) and the 2012 Orfeo release contained in its 18-CD “Wilhelm Furtwängler – Wiener Philharmoniker” box set (C834118Y). The recording date in the EMI 2-CD release was stated as 14-17 April, while the Orfeo one was just a single date, of 15 April.

The matter was further complicated by the statement in the EMI release that 2 numbers in the Passion “had to be cut because of insurmountable technical problems in the original recording” when they were “editing and remastering the tapes for this CD transfer”. My wild guess is that at the time of their new remastering, the tapes were already 40 to 41 years old, and these magnetic tapes were quite fragile and prone to breakage with age.

Cuts

From EMI’s notes, “In the original performance, 14 numbers from the score were omitted and some of the recitative was slightly trimmed”. The cuts were widely acknowledged in discographies and record reviews, but which 14 numbers were cut appeared to escape the attention of these discographers and reviewers. Even the most complete discography from Japan does not specify them. This fool of mine spent this morning comparing the EMI and Orfeo recordings to the score and came up with the answers.

The following 14 movement numbers (according to the Neue Bach-Ausgabe) were omitted in the performance:

Part One: Nos. 13, 17, 23. [corresponding to Nos. 19, 23, 29 in the old BWV numbering system]

Part Two: Nos. 32, 34, 35, 40, 41, 42, 46, 52, 60, 65, 66. (Strictly speaking, No. 66 was not completely cut. The first part of 66a remained: track 28 of CD2 in EMI’s, and track 20 of CD18 in Orfeo’s. The cut started from Es war aber allda Maria Magdalena und die andere Maria.) [corresponding to Nos. 38, 40, 41, 48-51, 55, 61, 70, 75, 76 in the old BWV numbering system]

Trimmed Rezitativ: Nos. 26 and 28 in Part One, and Nos. 33, 43 and 58 in Part Two. [corresponding to Nos. 32, 34, 39, 52, 67 in the BWV numbering system]

The two further cuts due to technical reasons referred to in the EMI release are Nos. 56 and 57 (Nos. 65 & 66 in BWV). They are present in the Orfeo release in tracks 12 and 14 on CD 18.

(Note: It has to be pointed out that if NBA No. 66 (=BWV No. 76) was considered only heavily "trimmed" and not "cut", then according to NBA, only 13 movement numbers were cut in the performance, as NBA No. 41 = BWV No. 49 + No. 50.)

My notes (1)

My notes (2)

EMI- vs. Orfeo-issued recording

If we believe that the recording issued by Orfeo is from a performance on a single day, then on comparative listening, the recording issued by EMI appears to me to be a mix of recordings from different days, or at least from a day different from Orfeo’s. The differences between the two are more pronounced in Part One.

Example 1: No. 6 (EMI: CD1, track 10; Orfeo: CD16, track 9)

In this Aria by the Alto, “Buß und Reu”, EMI’s takes 5’15 while Orfeo’s 3’41. Moreover, extraneous noises, coughs and others, occur at different times.

Example 2: No. 10 (EMI: CD1, track 16; Orfeo: CD16, track 17)

In this chorale, EMI’s is 1’28 while Orfeo’s is 1’41. In the EMI recording, there were 2 obvious coughs in the last line at the word meine, and the last word Seel was sustained about one second shorter that its counterpart in the Orfeo recording.

The performance itself

This performance is obviously not to the taste of those who insist on HIP. However there is no argument that it is much spiritually inspired. Furtwängler has found a memorable fine balance between Teutonic mysticism and theatrical drama. The way and pace he takes the recitatives is the key to the special spiritual quality that distinguishes it to most other conductors’ performances.

P.S. For those who are interested in Furtwängler, please take time to visit my Facebook Page: My Furtwängler Journal
Thank you.

Lim's Bruckner cycle from Korea

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Sat, 08 Apr 2017 12:21:00 +0000

They came out of the blue - the recordings of 9 Bruckner symphonies by the Korean Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hun-Joung Lim issued by Decca Korea.

I just received my copy of the box set from Korea. I like the non-flashy cover design of the box and of the individual sleeves of the 10 CDs. They have an understated elegance.

The recording dates of each symphony are listed below. The versions used are not stated in the track listing. I don’t know if they are mentioned in the essay covering each symphony in the booklet: it is in Korean. Only the biography of the conductor and the essay introducing the orchestra are bilingual in English and Korean.

1) 29 Oct 2015

2) 26 Apr 2016

3) 12 May 2015

4) 25 Feb 2016

5) 9 Sep 2016

6) 26 Feb 2015

7) 21 Nov 2014

8) 15 Dec 2015

9) 1 Dec 2016

It looks like it will be a busy weekend for me.

100th Anniversary Edition. Dinu Lipatti.

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Sat, 04 Feb 2017 14:45:00 +0000

Dinu Lipatti was born 100 years ago. Profil will issue a 12-CD box set next month in honour of him, “100th Anniversary Edition. Dinu Lipatti Edition”.

Its contents are arranged chronologically:
CD1: Pre-war recordings (1936-1938)
CD2&3: Wartime recordings (1941-1943)
CD4-7: Post-war recordings (1945-1948)
CD8-11: Last year (1950)
CD12: Last recital (16 September 1950)

It is quite obvious that this 12-CD set attempts to include all of Lipatti’s extant recordings, and in this regard, it has largely accomplished its aim. All the EMI recordings are included, plus all of his concerto recordings. Many rarities are included too. Here is a list of recordings in Lipatti’s discography that do not appear in this box set:
1) Chopin Waltz No. 2 op.34 No.1 recorded in Bucharest in 1941.
2) Three pieces recorded on 24 May 1947: Beethoven Cello Sonata No. 3 op.69 (I: Allegro ma non tanto; Bach Cello Sonata in D (II. Andante); Chopin Nocturne in C sharp minor.

Apart from a few studio recordings in the pre-war years, Lipatti’s main commercial recording career started only in 1947 and produced many memorable records well-known to his admirers. That is why those private recordings made during the war years have attracted much attention, but unfortunately were issued by a small company, Archiphon, with a limited circulation and they apparently also went out of print soon after being issued. Here is a chance to get these rare recordings if you missed it first time round.

This issue contains an excerpt of the 1950 Chopin Concerto in excellent sound.

The treasurable double CD from 1995 of previously unissued recordings.

The recording of Lipatti's Concertino en style classique op. 3 on 14 January 1943 is particularly attractive.

Karajan’s description of him is evergreen, “It was no longer piano playing, it was music, released from all earthly weight, music in its purest form, in a harmony that can be imparted only by one who was no longer of this world.”

Even though I’ve collected all of his recordings, I’m still holding my breath for this box set.

R.I.P. Prêtre a fine Brucknerian

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 19:13:00 +0000

We mourn the passing of Georges Prêtre at the age of 92.

Apart from his very fine operatic and French orchestral recordings, his two Bruckner recordings, of Symphonies No. 7 and No. 8, in his ripe golden age are impressive readings that will stay in my mind for a long time.

Rest in peace Maestro.

The 2 recordings of Furtwängler's Eroica that surfaced only in this century

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Wed, 02 Nov 2016 06:41:00 +0000

It is not infrequent to run into the war between die-hard fans of LPs and their counterparts of CDs. Each camp will claim the superiority of their ethos with reasons of subjective pleasantness or objective physical characteristics or a mixed combination of both. I’m somewhat frightened by this exclusiveness of interests.

In the case of Furtwängler’s recordings, it would be foolhardy to limit oneself to either LPs or CDs as the reasons for selection are challengingly complicated: sound source, remastering, unedited live recording vs edited and patched live recording, first editions vs. reissues, or even extant or not at a particular time, to name but a few.

On the issue of “extant or not at a particular time”, by the end of the last millennium, we can only listened to 9 different recordings of Furtwängler’s Eroica. The 31 August 1950 recording was still unissued. And the last recording on 4 September 1953 was even unheard of at that time. These 2 recordings at last saw light of the day in the early years of this century, of course in the format of CD. If you insist on the LP format, sorry, they are not available. (However in these days of the crazy renaissance of LPs, one won’t be surprised to see these recordings being reissued in vinyl. Of course, if the sound source is the same, I won’t buy the vinyl of the 1950 recording given its poor existing form. I may consider the 1954 one if it appears.)

The existence of the recording on 31 August 1950 during the Salzburg Festival with the VPO has been known for years since the Olsen days (Olsen No. 221), but it was still stated as unissued in the discography compiled by John Hunt and René Trémine, and also in the book by John Ardoin (utilizing John Hunt’s discography) in the 1990’s.

Listed as "Not issued/Private archive" in Hunt's discography

Left blank in Tremine's discography

The 31 August 1950 and 4 Sep 1953 recordings are not listed in Ardoin's book

It was first issued in an EMI double CD set (CMS 5674222) in 2000. The sound is not satisfactory because of a poor sound source. The performance, however, is top-notch and entirely lovable, with a special quality of its being a post-war Furtwängler reading sounding paradoxically akin to his fervent, angst-ridden wartime ones. It was later also issued by Orfeo in its Salzburg Festival box set (C409048L). This recording also appeared secretively in 2010 as a “bonus” in an Archipel double-CD of “Wilhelm Furtwängler in his last Salzburg concert” on 30 August 1954 (ARPCD 0504), in which the Eroica is not mentioned in the cover art or even on CD2 which contains it; however, the sound is surprisingly good.

The CDs of the 31 August 1950 Eroica

The 4 September 1953 recording has now become his last extant Eroica recording. Out of the blue, it sprang into being in 2004 in the Furtwängler 2CD of the “Great Conductors of the 20^th Century” series issued by IMG/EMI (5628752), more than half a century after his death. It is a live recording of the VPO on tour in Munich. Michael Tanner, in the liner notes, writes, “This whole performance will come as a revelation to anyone who thought they knew the Eroica but has not previously heard Furtwängler conduct it”. It is a very well recorded account. Although it is without the white heat of his wartime concerts, it is nevertheless a reading that pushes him to another level of sublime expressiveness, stunning deep down to your soul yet without the scorched stamp of war.

The IMG/EMI CD of the 4 September 1953 Eroica

The CDs of these 2 recordings have impressively enriched the discography of Furtwängler in particular, and that of Eroica in general.

A Furtwängler concert programme that is reserved for significant occasions

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 11:57:00 +0000

The recently released Otaken CD, TKC-365, reissued the Beethoven Symphonies No. 5 and 6 recorded in the concert on 25 May 1947, the first concert Furtwängler conducted the Berlin Philharmonic after his post-WII denazification. This famous concert is well known to seasoned classical music lovers. (The Egmont Overture in this concert was unfortunately not recorded.) The intensity of emotions of the occasion and that of the orchestral rendition is infectious. Otaken claims the sound of the new CD has an optimal dynamic range, with much freshness of sound. It points out in particular the bridge between the 3^rd and 4^th movements in Beethoven 5, saying they have faithfully captured the crescendo to much visceral effect. That obviously led me to take out the incumbent benchmark CD by Audite for comparison. Much as the richness of sound in the Otaken CD appears appealing, I prefer the more transparent, and also crisper, sound in the Audite CD. Just listen to the nuance in the famous anguished fermata in the eighth note in the opening movement and you will understand.

While on this concert, I’d like to point out something that I observed in relation to concert programming by Furtwängler.

When I take a close look at Furtwängler’s concert listing, this programme of Beethoven's Egmont Overture, Sixth Symphony and Fifth Symphony interestingly occurred only on special occasions, apart perhaps from its first occurrence on 4 May 1927 when he performed in Copenhagen on tour with the Berlin Philharmonic. He had different combinations of Beethoven’s symphonies in concerts, but this exact combination of Egmont, 6^th and 5^th is special.

This concert programme was used:

1) in his “come-back” concerts when he resumed conducting after the Hindemith Affair in 1935 (12 April in Budapest, 13 & 14 April in Vienna with the VPO when his passport was returned to him, and then in 25 April with his BPO in Berlin, and then in other German cities, Hamburg, Munich and Stuttgart in the following months).

2) on 12 December 1937 with the VPO in the Concert for the 125^th anniversary of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde.

3) in his series of “come-back” concerts starting 25 May 1947 referred to above in Berlin. These were followed by the concert on 3 June in Postdam and on 12 & 13 June in Munich.

4) on 28 September 1948 in London as the first concert of the only Beethoven Zylus in his entire conducting career.

Note that the order is always Beethoven's Sixth before Fifth, except for the concert in 1937.

Furtwängler and Beethoven Symphony No. 5

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Sat, 15 Oct 2016 14:14:00 +0000

It would be an understatement to say that Beethoven Symphony No. 5 is important to Wilhelm Furtwängler. He has conducted it 253 times making it his most performed piece of orchestral music.

He wrote a long article titled Beethoven und wir. Bemerkungen über den ersten Satz der fünften Symphonie in 1951. (It takes up 19 pages in “Furtwängler on Music”, pp. 40-58.) From his analysis you will understand more about his interpretation of this symphony, at least the first movement.

In 1996 EMI issued a bonus CD for “The Art of Conducting – Great Conductors of the Past” set (Catalogue Number: CONDUCTCD 1). It includes recordings of the first movement of Beethoven Symphony No. 5 conducted by Nikisch (BPO 10/11/1913), Furtwängler (VPO 28/2 & 1/3/1954), Karajan (Philharmonia 9&10/11/1954) and Klemperer (Philharmonia Oct & Dec 1955) for comparison. It also includes rehearsal sequences of Beecham, Furtwängler and Barbirolli. The short liner notes are written by Alan Sanders.

In 1998, Tahra (FURT 1032-1033) issued a double CD set including 3 recordings of Beethoven 5 conducted by Furtwängler in Oct-Nov 1937 (HMV recording), on 30 June 1943 (RRG live recording) and on 23 May 1954 (RIAS recording). The most edifying part of this set is an analysis of each performance by Sami Habra, Lecturer of the French Furtwängler Society in 29 tracts.

There is much to learn and digest from these comparisons and analyses.

Eugen Jochum's Tahra Concertgebouw recordings reissued on LPs

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Sun, 09 Oct 2016 02:53:00 +0000

That Tahra’s release (1997) of Eugen Jochum’s concert recording on 4 December 1986 of Bruckner 5 is a memorable event is beyond every Brucknerites’ doubts. Lately Altus, using the sound source from Tahra, has released this recording in LP format (TALTLP005) in Japan. The artistic value of this performance has been thoroughly discussed by reviewers over the years. Suffice it to say that it is one of my favourite Bruckner 5 recordings. There are some interesting points about this famous recording however.

1) Tahra states that it is his “very last performance”, but unfortunately it is not exactly true. His last performance in Amsterdam is the concert 2 days later on 6 December 1986 of the same music: Bruckner 5. Unfortunately this last concert was not recorded.

2) By that time, Jochum has performed the Bruckner Fifth 21 times with the Concertgebouw Orchestra.

3) In his last concert, he performed the whole of the Finale again for the encore!

4) In the finale of Bruckner 5, Eugen Jochum carried over but modified slightly Schalk's practice of augmenting the brass section towards the end of the movement with 11 extra brass instruments placed separately in a raised position behind the orchestra, often in the organ loft. He supported the brass with 11 additional instruments from the beginning of the Chorale (bar 583), using 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones and 1 bass tuba. These were affectionately called the "11 Apostles" as the twelfth, Judas, was not included. Jochum placed them differently from Schalk’s original practice. He placed them in the orchestra just behind or beside the original brass players, as he thought placing them in the organ loft would have an effect too theatrical. The idea of this practice is to make sure that the divine ending will not otherwise become lacklustre or feeble due to fatigue of the brass players already by the beginning of the Chorale.

Eugen Jochum’s last concert was in January 1987 when he conducted the Munich Philharmonic on Bruckner 9. This concert was broadcast. At that time the Munich Philharmonic was very much Celibidache’s orchestra, and with their affinity to Bruckner, how Jochum has conducted them in that concert should be every Brucknerite’s wish to hear it.

In about 3 weeks' time, on Halloween, Altus will reissue Eugen Jochum’s Tahra Bruckner recordings with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in a 10-LP set (TALTLP007). It will include the 4 December 1986 Bruckner 5 and thus duplicate TALTLP005. The others included in this LP set are Bruckner 4 (16 January 1975), Bruckner 6 (2 November 1980), Bruckner 7 (15 March 1970) and Bruckner 8 (26 Sep 1984). Whether it is intended or not, Altus timed its release one day before Jochum’s birthday on 1 November.

Tahra's first release of these recordings: Bruckner 4, 6, 7 & 8 in a box set shared with his brother Georg-Ludwig in 1996; Bruckner 5 singly one year later.

Cover art of TALTLP005 (2-LP set)

Cover art of TALTLP007, a 10-LP set

Furtwängler's 1947 Eroica

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 18:48:00 +0000

At the present moment, we know that 11 recordings of the Eroica conducted by Furtwängler have been issued on LP or CD, of which 2 are studio recordings for EMI, made in November 1947 and 1952 respectively. Although his live recordings, particularly the wartime ones, are generally preferred to his studio recordings, his 2 post-war EMI studio recordings of the Eroica are such wonderful readings that even the French Furtwängler Society has included them among their best choices of the Eroica. (The other 2 are his 1944 and 8 Dec 1952 live recordings.)

The studio recording of his conducting the Vienna Philharmonic on 10, 11, 12 & 17 November 1947, with a retake of the opening of the second movement on 15 February 1949, is the one discussed today.

1947 is a crucial year in Furtwängler’s conducting career. He had just been allowed to conduct again in May after his prolonged denazification process after WWII. He had to earn as much as he could to repay the debts accumulated in the preceding years since his escape from Germany in 1945. After his concert engagements in the Salzburg and Lucerne Festivals that summer, he spent the large part of November making recordings for EMI, including Beethoven Coriolan Overture and Symphony No. 3, Mozart Serenade No. 10 and Brahms Symphony No. 1.

The Eroica was issued on 13 sides of 78 rpm discs in 1948. When the LP era came, he was asked by EMI to record the Eroica again in 1952 to satisfy the market for this fast growing format with minimal surface noise and unbreakable discs.

An often asked question is why they had a retake of the first 68 bars of the Funeral March in 1949. The original recording in 1947 was made in the Musikvereinsaal, Vienna. In this 1949 remake, a smaller orchestral force was employed and the recording was made in the smaller Brahmssaal. The “reason” for this remake has been given as the introduction of autochangers into the 78rpm market. However, the exact reason why a retake, and hence a new issue of this retake, is necessary for these autochangers is not explained in any detail. Here I attempt to give a technical explanation. At that time, a 78 rpm disc can accommodate at most 5 minutes of music. Side 5 of the original recording is just a few seconds short of 5 minutes. It is fine if the stylus is placed manually on the thin outer margin to start the music, but for autochangers with automatic placement of the stylus, a wider margin is supposed to be needed, and hence the music is to be shorter for proper functioning of the system. From CDs using the 78 rpm discs as the sound source, we know the 1949 retake lasts 4’39” to 4’47” depending on which remastering is used, and thus a safe margin at the periphery of the disc is ensured.

This 1947 Eroica is an account with beautiful playing from the Vienna Philharmonic and warm, attractive sound. In the opening movement, the tempo Furtwängler adopted is not significantly different from those in his other extant recordings. There is an extraordinary unity of structure. The trumpets are prominent in the later part of the movement, quite typical of his. The Funeral March is mesmerising in the hands of Furtwängler, with a very rich bass-line. The Scherzo is lively and energetic, contrasting with a slower Trio. The rubato is lovely. The allegro molto of the last movement is impulsive and it is the fastest in all his versions except perhaps the recording on 20 June 1950, and it drives the way to an overwhelming finale with tremendous power.

Brief comments on CDs of this recording

Shinseido SGR-8221 (issued on 21/3/1998): The CD and the remastering are made by Toshiba EMI, which claims an improvement in sound on TOCE 6054. It includes a separate track for the 1949 retake (4’39”). The sound of the instruments in the retake is closer, the timbre of the cellos is more resonant and the oboe is more prominent, all related to the acoustics of the smaller hall and probably different microphone placement. The pitch of this CD is a little higher than that of Tahra’s and Naxos’.

Tahra FURT 1027 (1999): Tahra states the reason for this reissue as they considered TOCE 6054 a “disaster” with "dampened sound, compressed dynamics, very noisy pressing and wrong pitch". In this CD, the background noise is much controlled. The first movement sounds more musical than Shinseido’s but unfortunately the sound is thinner particularly in the second movement, probably due to more aggressive noise suppression. It also includes a separate track for the 1949 retake (4’47”).

Naxos 8.110995 (2006): Remastered by Ward Marston. It states, “Every copy of this recording that I have inspected has contained the re-take of side 5, and therefore, I have not been able to include the original take of this side for the present edition”. However, on comparative listening, the exposition of the second movement is more similar to the original 1947 take than the later one. The timing of this movement is also a clue. This CD has the least background noise compared with the others. The equalisation is shifted slightly more to the treble resulting in a brighter sound but unfortunately also thinner. The second movement is more doctored, e.g. the middle registers are boosted and a hint of reverb is added to give an apparent fully bass. The noise reduction also varies in intensity according to the music, e.g. during the oboe solo, it is more aggressive making the oboe sound cleaner and more prominent.

Goodies 78CD-3000 (issued on 17/4/2015): It is essentially a CD version of the set of 78 rpm discs. It contains 13 tracks, each corresponding to one side of the original 78s set. The producer claims he is not satisfied with the sound of the LP reissue of this recording in 1957 in the HMV/Columbia Great Recordings of the Century series. Therefore he uses the original 78s for its more vivid sound. He uses all-tube equipment to reproduce the sound and the present recording is a direct DSD recording. No extra equalisation or noise suppression was employed. The background surface noise is obviously loud and become rather intrusive in quieter passages of music. If your mind can ignore the ever-present background noise, the sound of the music is livelier than Shinseido’s though.

A new completion of the Finale of Bruckner Symphony No. 9 by Gerd Schaller

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Sun, 02 Oct 2016 15:03:00 +0000

It is a significant endeavour by Gerd Schaller, but whether this attempt at completion will stay in the concert hall, only history will tell.

"Anton Bruckner, Ninth Symphony in D minor, four movements including finale based on original sources, supplemented, completed and premiered by Gerd Schaller."

Flashback to 19 August 1951

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 17:18:00 +0000

Orchestral concert at the Salzburg Festival with Furtwängler conducting the Vienna Philharmonic:

Mendelssohn: The Hebrides – concert overture

Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau)

Bruckner: Symphony No. 5

This concert is special in certain ways. It is unusually long. It features the then 26-year-old Fischer-Dieskau’s Salzburg Festival debut. Its recording includes the only extant Furtwängler recording of Bruckner 5 with the Vienna Philharmonic.

The discography of this concert is quite typical of many of Furtwängler’s concert recordings – each piece of music was issued separately, often by different companies, at different times.

Not until 1982 was the whole concert issued on vinyls – by the German Furtwängler Society. Prior to that only the Bruckner symphony appeared first on LPs, issued by the Canadian company Rococo around 1975 (Rococo 2034). In the early 1980s, Furtwängler Societies in Germany and Japan issued recordings of the whole concert on LPs, and these quickly became collector’s items. The Italian company Fonit Cetra issued the Bruckner 5 together with the 1^st May 1951 Bruckner 7 in Rome in a box-set (FE 42) in 1984.

Rococo 2034

WFSG F667.497-498M

WFJ 6-7

Fonit Cetra FE42

When it came to the CD era, “official” releases became available, but mostly for the Bruckner 5. EMI issued the recording of this symphony in 1995 with the sound source from a private tape held by the conductor’s wife. The sound is fairly limited. When Orfeo issued the whole concert in their Salzburg Festival box set, the sound has improved. However there are two unofficial releases with surprisingly good sound. One is from Arkadia (1993) with a well balanced sound. Another is from Grand Slam (2015), which used a 2-track reel-to-reel tape as the sound source. The sound is immediate and full-bodied with an emphasis on the bass. It is a pleasure to listen to it.

Orfeo C409048L (8-CD set) and C336931B

From left to right: Grand Slam GS-2133; Orfeo C409048L; EMI CDH 5657502; Arkadia CDWFE 360.1

Many would prefer Furtwängler’s wartime Bruckner 5 with the Berlin Philharmonic, but this Vienna Philharmonic rendition has attractions in its own right, be it the woodwind timbre and playing, or the silky violin tone. There may be imperfections in the ensemble, particularly in the finale, but the unique lure of Furtwängler’s approach to Bruckner more than compensates for them.

Furtwängler's Brahms Symphony No. 1 recording on 13 August 1947

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Sun, 10 Jul 2016 18:30:00 +0000

Although the Salzburg Festival resumed soon after WWII in the summer of 1945, Furtwängler could only take part in it after his denazification in 1947. Thereafter he appeared in each subsequent year’s, except 1952’s when he was ill, until his death in 1954. What is unfortunate about his Salzburg Festival concert recordings is that the original tapes of Radio Rotweissrot, which was responsible for Salzburg Festival broadcasts up to 1954, no longer exist. Only a copy tape of his last concert in 1954 survives in the archives of the Salzburg Landesstudio. The majority of his Salzburg Festival concert recordings had their sound source from private collectors.

In 2004, upon the 50th anniversary of Furtwängler’s death, Salzburg Festival granted the right to Orfeo to release a special limited edition of his extant post-war concert recordings in 8 CDs: “Wilhelm Furtwängler – Die Salzburger Orchesterkonzerte 1949-1954” (C409048L). It was supposed to be exhaustive. However, it was known to collectors that a Brahms Symphony No. 1 recording dated 13 August 1947 had been released by Disques Refrain (DR920022) in the 1990s and later by Furtwängler societies in Japan, but this recording was not included in the box set. Although its authenticity has been doubted, mainly in Europe, Japanese collectors are adamant that this recording is the real thing, so much so that they added it as a bonus disc to the local Japanese release of this box set by King Records (KICC 90945-90952) in 2011. Obviously this particular box set was sold out rapidly and collectors’ attention to this 13 August 1947 recording soared. In 2012, Naoya Hirabayashi, a Japanese music critic who founded the Grand Slam label, released this recording (Grand Slam GS-2086) with the sound source being a DAT obtained from a German collector.

The Orfeo release and the Grand Slam GS-2086.

The poster of the local Japanese release of the Salzburg Festival box set with a bonus CD of this Brahms recording.

This Brahms 1 is a passionate account, even by Furtwängler’s standard, with mesmerising violin and beautiful woodwind playing. Once you’ve listened to it, you’ll understand why the Japanese collectors are so drawn to it.

Wilhelm Furtwängler Talking about Music

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Wed, 22 Jun 2016 15:41:00 +0000

Two days after Furtwängler conducted the Berliner Philharmoniker in a special concert at the Titania-Palast on 20 June 1950, he was invited by Werner Egk to have a colloquium at the Berliner Hochschule für Musik. It was repeated in February 1951. These 2 talks on music were recorded by Deutsche Grammophon, and excerpts of these were issued on LPs included in box sets over the years.

Titled “Snippets of Discussions and Interviews”, these excerpts were first issued in a 6-LP “Wilhelm Furtwängler in Memoriam” box set in late 1963, for the 10^th anniversary of the maestro’s passing. Karla Höcker selected and compiled the excerpts which open with “The Essence is the Work” and then cover 6 areas in 29 tracks: About the Tempo, Acoustics in Large and Small Halls, Technique and Expression, Style Questions, Conductor-Problems, and Music in the Opera.

These were reissued around 1968 in the budget label Heliodor’s 8-LP “Wilhelm Furtwängler Berliner Philharmoniker” box set, and then in 1979 in another DGG 10-LP box set, “Das Vermächtnis Wilhelm Furtwängler”. Part of these excerpts also appeared on one side of the last LP in the Berliner Philharmoniker 100^th anniversary commemorative box set issued in 1982.

On CDs, parts (totally only 26’58”) of these two colloquia together with radio interviews were included in the bonus CD in the Japanese 33-CD box set in 1994 (POCG 9476-9508, duration of 26’58”). More recently, “The Complete RIAS Recordings” 12-plus-1-CD box set by Audite also included Furtwängler’s colloquium on the art of interpretation on 27 February 1951.

Many of his views are insightful. One example is on precision:

“To obtain precision, if one beats firmly and clearly, is very simple. But to combine with this firm and clear beat all the other qualities which one wants to and must obtain from the orchestra – either a hard sound or a gentle sound, a legato, a staccato, transitions, all these – is also part of conducting technique. Everyone’s technique is different.”

The 1942 Furtwängler’s Bruckner Symphony No. 5 recording

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Sun, 19 Jun 2016 00:35:00 +0000

(An update of the original post from 29 April 2011: A Furtwängler godsend from Testament -- The 1942 Bruckner 5th in spectacular sound)

INTRODUCTION

With the recent issue of fragments of Bruckner Symphony No. 5 from an aircheck on acetates, by Delta Classics (DCCA-0076) in Japan, it is interesting to revisit an already well-known and well-preserved recording during this series of concerts from 25 to 28 October 1942.

This war-time (25-28/10/1942) Bruckner 5 recording by Furtwängler conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra at Alte Philharmonie Berlin, is an intense, sensitive and passionate account. Those who are attuned to Furtwängler's music-making will be very much familiar with this recording, but never before in such excellent sound on CD as documented by the latest issue from Testament. It was transferred from the "real" mastertapes of this recording, quite unlike what has been claimed in whatever way in previous releases.

The recording was made on tapes in a concert by the RRG (Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft, i.e. National Radio Society), probably for broadcast. The original tapes were discovered by the Soviets after the war and taken to the USSR. LPs of this recording were first issued in the USSR in the 1960s. Those in the West who were fortunate enough to be able to listen to these LPs in that era, were so impressed that these LPs immediately became collectors’ gems.

To cut a long story short, in 1987 twenty tapes of live recordings of Furtwängler and the Berlin Philharmonic were returned to Radio Free Berlin (including this Bruckner recording), and CDs based on these tapes were issued by DGG. Many would think it was the end of the story. However, life is always not so simple. These tapes turned out to be not original ones, but 38 cm/s copies of the original 77 cm/s RRG tapes. With further search and negotiation, in March 1991, 1462 original RRG tapes were located in Moscow and returned to Germany. This new Testament release is based on these returned original tapes under the license of Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg.

VINYLS

The original LPs issued in the USSR by Melodiya were thought to be from the original RRG tapes. These are now obviously rare. There were also LPs issued by the Bruno Walter Society in the USA and Japan in the past from "Russian sources". The Japanese release in September 1982 (OS-7089->90-BS) and the American release (RR-538) were both licensed from "Educational Media Associates", and were believed to be the same.

RR-538

OS-7089->90-BS

Melodiya has reissued this Bruckner 5 recording on LPs in different years since the 1960s. I have three copies of them, from the 1970s and 1980s. They have a bold sound with a certain degree of echo added.

The last issue was for the Japanese market in 1992, the “black label Melodiya” as usually identified by the Japanese. It was said to be made by the latest cutting machines, and produced a rich, soft sound which was much appreciated in that market, so much so that Opus Kura used this LP as sound source to produce a CD version (OPK 7013). I like the sound of this LP too.

COMPACT DISCS

There have been many different CD releases of this concert, albeit from different sound sources, over the years.

The sound sources of the various CD releases can be summarized as follows:

1) From tapes in the former Soviet Union: Melodiya MEL CD 1001103 (2006)

2) From digital copies of the tape copies returned to Germany in 1987: DGG in various releases (1989, 1995, 2001)

3) From Melodiya LP (Melodiya Black Label M10-42555-8): Opus Kura OPK 7013 (2005)

4) From Bruno Walter Society's "Russian sources": Nippon Columbia 35C37 7297 and Bruno Walter Society CD-538 (made by Denon/Nippon Columbia) (1982) or Music & Arts CD-1209 (5-CD box set) (2008)

5) From original RRG tapes: Testament SBT 1466 and JSBT 8466 (Japanese release) (2011)

On comparative listening of these CDs, I believe that the sound from the Testament release just sweeps the board; the other CDs made from other sound sources literally turn pale in comparison. This latest release has a much fuller-bodied sound. There is air around the woodwinds. The clarity in sound is so much evident as in the string tremolando in the Finale. The tympani sounds crisp and solid. It can easily be the best sounding CD of all the war-time Furtwängler CDs I've ever listened to. Now I don't have to bear with the many deficiencies from these old CDs any more, e.g. the transient signal loss in the first crescendo in the opening movement in the DGG release, the persistent intrusive hiss from the Opus Kura CD, or the distant and veiled sound from almost all of them. It is just like an old, priceless oil painting having been cleaned and its true glory restored.

It is indeed a benediction.

(Version 3.1)

A "new" Furtwängler Bruckner recording, albeit shabby

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 15:26:00 +0000

(I'm back, after almost 2 years.)

Just when one is puzzled by the seemingly endless reissues of Furtwängler's previously available recordings, here comes a "new" one from a private archive (Delta DCCA-0076). Although it is far from a complete live recording of Bruckner 5 on one of the days between 25 to 28 October 1942, it offers us a further glimpse of the wartime Furtwängler style nontheless.

When one realises that the sound source is from a private aircheck recorded on acetate discs, one can already have a fairly good idea of the sound quality. The first movement is missing. Only 5 minutes 28 seconds of the Adagio is included, the sound being as if one is listening to a radio under water. The last two movements are almost complete, with slightly better sound, but decorated by loud spinning acetate noises and abrupt interruptions due to disc changes.

This CD is apparently intended for Furtwängler, or for that matter Bruckner, completists. One needs a healthily sympathetic and nostalgic mindset to appreciate the beautiful music out of the poor sound. I begin to enjoy it, but not until after a few listens to acclimatise myself to this sound world.

Claudio Abbado and Anton Bruckner -- A long and fruitful journey

noreply@blogger.com (Horace Lau) — Sun, 13 Jul 2014 02:48:00 +0000

It is well known to Brucknerites that Claudio Abbado has recorded several Bruckner symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic on DG. However it takes some time to realise that all these VPO symphonies have exact counterparts in the Lucerne Festival Orchestra (albeit only video recordings of B5 and B7 are now available) , now that Abbado's last concert has been issued. Is it fate?

His last concerts last year, programming Schubert Unfinished and Bruckner 9, left indelible memories to those fortunate enough to have attended them. Now this Bruckner 9, recorded by Accentus and issued on CD by Deutsche Grammophon, is commercially available. What an experience it is! Comparing his Lucerne Festival Orchestra Bruckner recordings with his previous Vienna Philharmonic ones is a good exercise in learning how Abbado has evolved in his understanding and interpretation of Bruckner.

This Bruckner 9 will surely join my favourites list of this symphony.

B1s

B4s

B5s

B7s

B9s