Thielemann's Bruckner 8 with the Staatskapelle Dresden (Blu-ray)

Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 8

Staatskapelle Dresden

Christian Thielemann

C Major 716204        (Blu-Ray)

  

This performance of Bruckner’s 8^th Symphony was recorded in the Semperoper, Dresden on June 10, 2012 and is the first in a projected complete cycle of the Bruckner symphonies. An opera house is an unlikely venue for this most unoperatic of symphonies, but the performance is magnificent and was justly met with that very rare phenomenon – a standing ovation from a European symphony audience.

Thielemann’s interpretation is very weighty and feels slow. Looking at the timings reveal that the performance is no slower than most. What it has, though, is a rare sense of deliberateness and purpose. One way in which this reveals itself is in the balance within and across the four movements. Each of the first three movements is perfectly paced to set up its successor, and the tempo of the finale is exactly right to recapitulate its predecessors.

The first movement is 16’03” but feels slower. There is a great dramatic build up that still respects the movement’s lyrical passages with fine wind playing and well shaped phrasing in the strings. The tension is dissipated in the coda. In the second movement the contrast between the Scherzo and the Trio is well judged. The first occurrence of the Scherzo allows the much slower Trio to be foregrounded, while the reprise of the Scherzo feels much more driving and nicely frames an Adagio that is both lyrical and probing. The balance and dialog between strings, wind, and brass is particularly fine both in this movement and in the wonderfully paced finale.

I only have a couple of quibbles, one with the recording and one with the videography. The first is minor. The harp seems artificially foregrounded in the early parts of the Adagio, temporarily distorting the balance of the music. The second is much more significant. The videographer registers the climax of the Adagio with a pedestrian panning shot around the opera house. This adds nothing to the music and runs a serious risk of distracting the listener/viewer.  

But putting these quibbles to one wide, musically this is most impressive and bodes well for the rest of the cycle. Thielemann is cementing his position as one of the leading contemporary Bruckner conductors. Highly recommended.

Remastered historical Bruckner recordings from Giulini and Schuricht

Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 2 (*)

Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 8 (**)

Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 9 (**)

(*)       Wiener Symphoniker, conduced by Carlo Maria Giulini

Vienna Symphony Orchestra label WS004 (CD)

(**)     Wiener Philharmoniker, conduced by Carl Schuricht

            EMI Classics 50999 9 55984 2 0 (2 discs - Hybrid SACD)

Here are two very welcome reissues of historical recordings from the 1960’s and 1970’s of great Bruckner conductors in Vienna  – a 2-disc set from EMI Classics of Bruckner 8 and 9 from Carl Schuricht conducting the Vienna Philharmonic and a single disc with Bruckner 2 from Carlo Maria Giulini and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, originally issued by Warner and now reissued as the fourth release from the Vienna Symphony’s own label. The Schuricht recordings date from 1963 and 1961 respectively, while the Giulini performance was recorded in December 1974. All three have been remastered, with the Schuricht discs remastered into SACD.

Although only 10 years or so separate the Schuricht recordings from the Giulini recordings, these are two very different eras of Bruckner conducting. Schuricht is from the school of Furtwängler and Knappersbusch – at least in his freedom with tempi, although he is far less monumental  in his approach to Bruckner than either of the others. Giulini is much more measured and in the modern style.

Giulini imbues the 2^nd with real depth. Too often it sounds like a pale shadow of the Bruckner to come, but the emotional intensity of Bruckner’s late symphonies is already there in Giulini’s performance, particularly in the slow movement where he does more than justice to the solemnity of the main theme. At the same time Giulini does not shy away from some of the effects in this symphony that are far cruder than the late Bruckner would have contemplated (e.g. in the Scherzo and Finale, both of which are conducted with great energy and vitality). The end of the Finale is particularly dramatic (as noted in the interesting essay by Robert Freund, horn player with the orchestra and involved in the original recording session). 

Carl Schuricht uses tempo variations in both of these recordings to good effect. His approach to Bruckner is relatively undramatic. His Bruckner is not the Bruckner of the church or of the mountain-tops. And so he uses fluctuating tempi to build (and then dissipate) tension and to carve out the structure of the two symphonies.  His climaxes are understated but nonetheless effective – primarily because of how he builds and moulds the musical line building up to them. To my mind his approach is more successful (even more successful!) in the 9^th than the 8^th., but both performances are recommended.

Isserlis and Mustonen play Martinu, Sibelius and Mustonen

Martinu:         Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 1, H277

                        Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 2, H286

                        Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 3, H340

Sibelius           Malincolia, Op. 20

Mustonen       Sonata for Cello and Piano

Stephen Isserlis, cello

Olli Mustonen, piano

BIS 2042

Hybrid SACD

 This attractive disc showcases what for many listeners will be an unfamiliar program. Martinu’s three cello sonatas have been recorded on a number of occasions (including an earlier recording by Stephen Isserlis on Helios with Peter Evans at the keyboard), but remain relatively little known. Malincolia is not one of Sibelius’s better known pieces, to put it mildly. And only real enthusiasts who have played it or heard it live will be familiar with Olli Mustonen’s sonata for cello and piano. Yet the combination works well. 

The three Martinu sonatas complement each other nicely. The first (written in 1939 after the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia) is the most searching, particularly the Lento, which Isserlis and Mustonen play with real depth of feeling. The momentum of the second sonata (written in exile in the US) is nicely captured by the two performers. Likewise for the rhythmically rewarding and even more dynamic third sonata. Isserlis and Mustonen clearly have great affinity for this music (and Isserlis’s program notes in the booklet are thoughtful and informative).

Sibelius’s Malincolia is aptly named. It is an unremitting lament for the composer’s deceased infant daughter. Isserlis illuminatingly describes it as “a tone poem for cello and piano in which the darkness of Finland’s forests alternates with the consoling sound of human chant.” Isserlis plays with lyrical depth and a fine singing line rising above Mustone’s driving piano accompaniment.

Mustonen’s own sonata is appealing, combining catchy phrases for the cello with an energetic and percussive accompaniment for the piano. It is clearly from the same stylistic and emotional universe as the other pieces on the disc (like Sibelius, Mustonen is a Finn). This is the first recording and it rounds out very nicely an interesting and satisfying selection of music for cello and piano. The sound quality is excellent and the disc is recommended.   

Barenboim's La Scala Götterdämmerung on Blu Ray

Richard Wagner, Die Götterdämmerung

Siegfried - Lance Ryan
Gunther - Gerd Grochowski
Alberich - Johannes Martin Kränzle
Hagen - Mikhail Petrenko
Brünnhilde - Iréne Theorin
Gutrune / Die dritte Norn - Anna Samuil
Waltraute / Die zweite Norn - Waltraud Meier
Die erste Norn - Margarita Nekrasova
Woglinde - Aga Mikolaj
Wellgunde - Maria Gortsevskaya
Flosshilde - Anna Lapkovskaja

Milan La Scala Chorus and Orchestra
(chorus master: Bruno Casoni)
Daniel Barenboim, conductor

Guy Cassiers, stage director and set designer
Enrico Bagnoli, set and lighting designer
Tim van Steenbergen, costume designer
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, choreographer

Recorded live at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, June 2013

Arthaus Musik           Blu Ray (108 0930) or DVD (101 696)

                                     

This release brings to an end the La Scala Ring Cycle conducted by Daniel Barenboim and produced by Guy Cassiers. I reviewed the Die Walküre very positively when it came out. This performance is significantly less successful to my mind, largely due to the weak singing of Lance Ryan, but it is very fine nonetheless. I will stick with my earlier judgment that Barenboim’s 1992 Bayreuth Ring Cycle remains his best effort (but for a different view see the reviews by Rob Cummings on this site), but the conducting, production, and most of the singing here is first rate.

One very striking feature of Guy Cassier’s production is the skillful use of light and video – superbly captured on the Blu Ray disc. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more evocative portrayal of Brunnhilde’s rock. But the most distinctive feature of the production is its use of visual leitmotifs that reappear throughout all four dramas. Chief among these is the frieze Les passions humaines commissioned from the Antwerp sculptor Jef Lambeaux by King Leopold II of Belgium. The freize depicts a contorted mass of human bodies – rather appropriate for the Ring. There is a striking evocation of the frieze in the Gibichung palace where pieces of the furniture look rather like Damien Hirst-style limbs in formaldehyde. The leitmotif continues with the depiction of the Tarnhelm as a human sculpture, which works rather effectively when Siegrfried arrives at Brunnhilde’s rock (and somewhat less so when Siegfried first arrives surrounded by ballet dancers at the Gibichung palace). 

As with the earlier dramas in the cycle, Barenboim’s conducting is superlative. Die Götterdämmerung has some of Wagner’s classic set-pieces, including Siegfried’s Rhine Journey and the Funeral March and these come across extremely well, as one might expect. Barenboim’s real strength, though, is his sense of structure – both musical and dramatic . A nice illustration comes in Act II, where he builds unerringly to the dramatic high point of Siegfried’s oath.  This is a part of the drama that is crucial, but can sag in the wrong hands.

As indicated earlier, the real problem with this production is Lance Ryan’s Siegfried. Ryan does not have the contolled power of a true heldentenor and he sounds forced and all-too-often wobbly when he tries to project. He is very much at the “shouty” end of the spectrum and it just doesn’t work for me at all (although the audience at La Scala seemed happy enough). The rest of the cast unfortunately shows up his weaknesses. 

Waltraud Meier is outstanding as the 2^nd Norn and then as Waltraute. The duet between Brunnhilde and Waltraute at the end of Act I is sung with simultaneous strength and delicacy. Nina Stemme was the Brunnhilde in Die Walküre and Siegfried, and sang outstandingly well in both dramas. Here she is replaced by Iréne Theorin, who does not quite have Stemme’s dramatic power, but who gives a very creditable performance. Theorin is a wonderfully furious Brunnhilde in Act II, but by the time of the immolation she is a little lacking in dramatic contrast. Hagen is well sung by Mikhail Petrenko, despite some unfortunate portamento in the early stages of the role. Johannes Martin Kränzle continues his strong run as Alberich (with the Alberich-Hagen duet another high superbly conducted high point of the performance). The principals are rounded out by  Gerd Grochowski as Gunther and Anna Samuil as Gutrune. Both do their roles justice.

The audiovisual quality of the Blu Ray disc is outstanding and the performance is recommended for the production, the conducting, and much of the singing. There are enough great moments for this to be compulsory viewing for dedicated Wagnerians

Giulini's Bruckner 9 on DVD

Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 9 in D Minor: Rehearsal and Concert

Carlo Maria Guilini

Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra

Arthaus Musik DVD 102 188

The 9^th is the Bruckner symphony most closely associated with Carlo Maria Giulini. John Berky’s discography identifies 9 different recordings. The concert on this DVD was recorded for television on 20 September 1996 and has been released on CD at least twice before. This is the first release on DVD and has the very considerable benefit of nearly 60 minutes of rehearsal time (usefully dubbed from the German).

Having the rehearsal footage gives an incredible insight into the nuances of Bruckner interpretation and the level of attention to individual voices within the complex whole of the symphony. It is also a wonderful portrait of the 83 year old conductor – clearly deeply affected by the music and greatly respected and loved by the orchestra. Completely the opposite of imperious, Giulini’s style is very gentle and understated. 

The performance is very fine indeed. The first movement is measured. Tension is built successively through the peaks of the movement and then dissolved in the coda. It is clear that Giulini has a firm architectural grip on the symphony and he seems transfixed by the music. The second movement has great drive and vigor and the rehearsal reveals one of the techniques used, as Giulini instructs the strings in the main scherzo theme that the long notes are to be played marcato, with only the dotted notes played staccato. The “before and after” shots in the rehearsal show how this device builds momentum. For Giulini the third movement is the finale – he takes the traditional approach. And he manages to incorporate a chamber-like balance between the instrumental voices into the monumentality of Bruckner’s symphonic conception. The rehearsal shows how much work went into getting the balance right between wind and horns.

I do have one reservation. Watching the rehearsal gives great insight into details of the interpretation, but it doesn’t help much with understanding the overall structure of his approach. The organization is very disjointed, cutting without warning or explanation from one section of the movement to another. I think that there could have been more editorial guidance besides simply identifying which movement is under discussion. Either that – or reproduce an entire rehearsal.

But even as it is this is a highly recommended DVD. The performance is very much worth the price of admission and the rehearsal certainly deepens appreciation. 

Nagano conducting Bruckner Symphonies Nos. 4, 7, 8

Anton Bruckner, Symphonies 4, 7, 8

Bavarian State Orchestra

Kent Nagano

Farao Classics CD 108074

It is not easy to see the logic behind this set containing three Bruckner symphonies played by Kent Nagano and the Bavarian State Orchestra. All three performances have previously been released by Sony Classical. Two of the performances (the 4^th and the 8^th) are studio recordings of the rarely heard original versions, while the set also includes a live recording of the 7^th made in Ghent cathedral in September 2010.

The booklet contains an essay by Olaf A. Schmidt entitled “Bruckner the Progressive” (doubtless a reference to Schoenberg’s famous essay “Brahms the Progressive”). The essay discusses the different versions of the Bruckner symphonies, proposing that Bruckner’s first thoughts were often his most daring and forward-looking, subsequently tempered by the criticisms he received from his contemporaries and misguided well-wishers.

There is some plausibility in this analysis. The  Hunt Scherzo that Bruckner added to the 4^th Symphony is an altogether jollier and less challenging affair than the scherzo included on this recording of the original 1874 version.  But on the other hand, Bruckner’s original versions are sometimes ham-fisted at best – the fortissimo at the end of the first movement of the 8^th is a good example. And the original versions can drag somewhat. The 4^th comes in at 75 minutes and the 8^th at a taxing 100 minutes.

Of the performances here the 7^th is the least convincing. There is nothing dramatically wrong with it. Nagano conducts sensitively and with a good sense of architecture. The orchestra has a fine Bruckner sound. But the performance certainly fails to stand out in a crowded market-place. It is a little ironic also that in a set ostensibly focused on Bruckner’s progressive initial thoughts, the performance of the 7^th includes the controversial cymbals crash at the climax of the Adagio.

The 1874 version of the 4^th and the 1887 version of the 8^th are well worth listening to, however. It’s a fool’s errand, in my opinion, to try to identify the definitive version of either of these great works. Really there is a family of different versions, each of which needs to be listened to on its own terms. Nagano and the Bavarian State Orchestra have broadened our horizons by giving us a clearer understanding of what Bruckner originally intended. Listeners can make up their own minds as to whether the subsequent revisions were improvements or detractions.  

Review of Schaller's Bruckner 4 with the Volkfest finale

Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 4 (with Volkfest finale)

Philharmonie Festiva

Conduced by Gerd Schaller

Profil CD PH13049

Gerd Schaller is the founder and artistic director of the Ebrach Summer Music Festival and the Philharmonie Festiva is the orchestra he has put together for the festival, primarily with musicians from the leading Munich orchestras. Together with the Philharmonie Festiva Schaller has already recorded a complete cycle of Bruckner symphonies. In this recording Schaller offers an unusual version of the 4^th Symphony.

Bruckner’s 4^th Symphony is almost always heard in some form of the 1880 version, although an increasing number of conductors are trying to revive the original 1874 version. The 1880 version is basically the 1878 version with a new finale (the symphony’s third). The original (as it were!) 1878 version was written with what he entitled the Volkfest (People’s Festival) finale. It is the 1878 version with the Volkfest finale that Gerd Schaller and the Philharmonie Festiva play on this intriguing recording.

The Volkfest finale has not received a huge amount of attention. It was not even published until 1936, when it appeared as an appendix to Robert Haas’s edition. Another edition was produced by Leonard Nowak in 1981. There are a few recordings in which it features as a filler (e.g. Tintner’s recording of the Study Symphony), but this is one of a very small number of recordings that offers us the whole of the 4^th Symphony as Bruckner conceived it between 1878 and 1880.

Schaller’s Bruckner is majestic, rather than monumental or mystical. The tempi are steady and we see a slow build up of tension rather than a spiky series of climaxes. Many recordings of the 4^th are more jagged, but the overall impression here is of the slow unveiling of a lengthy musical argument. The internal logic of the argument is familiar, of course, up to the end of the third movement. At which point the Volkfest finale begins.

For most Bruckner enthusiasts I imagine that the first hearing will be rather disconcerting. The Volkfest finale initially sounds much less substantial than the 1880 finale and there are moments that seem almost trite. It did grow on me after a couple of listenings, however. The Volkfest is in some ways better proportioned than the 1880 finale, which can seem out of balance relative to the rest of the symphony. It also has some particularly fine moments, particularly the close in which all the principal themes come together in a classic Brucknerian peroration.

The 1878 version will not replace the 1880 version, I am confident – or even the 1874 version. But it is well worth listening to as part of an entire performance, rather than as a “bleeding chunk”. Bruckner himself found it compelling enough for a couple of years and although he was almost certainly correct to prefer the later version of the finale, he was also correct not to reject it. This disc is a valuable testament to an important stage in Bruckner’s evolution as a symphonist.