Bruckner symphonies in Claudio Abbado: The Symphony Edition

This 41 CD collection of Abbado recordings contains five live performances of Bruckner symphonies – four re-releases and one recording being released for the first time. The new recording is the First Symphony in the 189-/91 Vienna edition, recorded live with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra in August 2012. It is one of the highlights of the mini-set, the other being a benchmark performance of the Ninth (from 1996 with the Vienna Philharmonic). The Ninth strikes a wonderful balance between power and lyricism, with the beautiful sound of the Vienna Philharmonic harnessed to a deep vision of Bruckner's final symphony. The other three performances are much less satisfying, unfortunately. Neither the Fourth, the Fifth, nor the Seventh really convince. The sound is always polished and Abbado is clearly at home in the score. But the performances lack the depth and intensity that we find in some of Abbado's more recent performances with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra (e.g. this recording of the Fifth from 2011).

The Klemperer Legacy: Concertos

More excellent value from EMI in their Klemperer Legacy series. This set contains some old warhorses (Another Schumann Piano Concerto, anyone? Perhaps a Beethoven Violin Concerto?), but the performances are characteristically powerful. For me the highlight is the 1967 recording of Mozart's C major Piano Concerto (K503), with Daniel Barenboim at the keyboard. This was their first encounter – Barenboim was 25 and Klemperer 82. That led quickly into a justly famous complete cycle of Beethoven concertos, also included here. The set is rounded out by Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 (Annie Fischer) and Brahm's Violin Concerto (David Oistrakh), together with a splendid recording of the Mozart's Horn Concertos with Alan Civil as the soloist. Not much new repertoire here - but a good opportunity to enjoy Klemper's powerful and structurally compelling interpretations. 

Mehta's Bruckner 8 in the Digital Concert Hall

There are 13 Bruckner performances in the back catalog of the Berlin Philharmonic's Digital Concert Hall, including an excellent Bruckner 8 from Zubin Mehta recorded on 13 March 2012. This is a welcome addition to Mehta's slender Bruckner discography. He has a deep understanding of Bruckner and this performance has both momentum and structure. Here is a short sampler. The full performance requires a ticket. I recommend a season pass, which gives access to the coming season as well as to a large and ever-expanding back list

Benjamin Britten: Chamber and Instrumental Works

This enjoyable set (available here from Archivmusik at a very reasonable price) is dominated by the three string quartets and three cello suites, as one might expect – with fine performances from the Endellion Quartet and Truls Mørk respectively. But there are also less familiar pieces that are well worth listening to - particularly the phantasy for string trio and oboe, the op. 65 cello sonata written for Rostropovich, and the six metamorphoses after Ovid for solo oboe. Britten's piano works on disc 5 are not a high point, despite the best efforts of Stephen Hough, but in general Britten's harmonic language and musical persona is ideal for the more intimate chamber music setting.

Furtwängler's Vienna Concerts: 1944 - 1954

Wilhelm Furtwängler, Wiener Konzerte 1944 – 1954 (Orfeo C834 118Y - 18 CDs)

The 18 CDs in this new collection from Orfeo d'Oro include every identifiable recording of Furtwängler's live performances with the Vienna Philharmonic, but no studio recordings. The earliest performances date back to the last year of the Second World War, including a breathtaking recording of Bruckner's 8th Symphony (17th October, 1944, using his own edition). The latest date to Furtwängler's final months. 

Enthusiasts will already have many of the recordings here (particularly the Bruckner, Beethoven, and Brahms performances), and the selection ends up being rather skewed. We get 2 recordings of Bruckner 8, 3 of Beethoven's 9, and 2 of the Eroica, for example, as well as a double dose of the St Matthew Passion. But these are all without exception extraordinary performances and the remastering has produced an impressive sound quality. In addition to the October 1944 Bruckner 8th, stand-out performances for me include the November 1952 Eroica, the January 1945 Brahms 1, and the January 1951 9th Symphony. I'm sure that I have them all already in reasonable remasterings, but it is interesting to listen to them here in the context of Furtwängler's long and evolving career with the Vienna Philharmonic.

1953 Krauss Ring Cycle at Archivmusik

Surely this is the bargain of the century. Many have described the 1953 Krauss as the best ever recorded cycle. Certainly it's hard to imagine a better trio of principals than Hans Hotter as Wotan, Astrid Varnay as Brunnhilde, and Wolfgang Windgassen as Siegfried. Varnay in particular is outstanding. The depth of her characterization in the final drama is unparalleled. The quality of singing is almost uniformly excellent (the only exception being a truly awful Gutrune) and Krauss's conducting is lyrical and architectural in equal measure. 

The reissue by Opera d'Oro includes a full libretto with a new translation and has been remastered to yield a warm vocal sound (although the orchestral sound is rather muddy on occasion, as might be expected in a live recording from 60 years ago). 

If you can think of a better use for $50 please let me know.

Klemperer: Bruckner 4 – 9

Otto Klemperer: Bruckner Symphonies 4 – 9

Philharmonia Orchestra/New Philharmonia Orchestra

EMI (6 CDs: 50999 4 04296 2)

Otto Klemperer is much better known for his Mahler recordings than as a Bruckner conductor. That reflects the vicissitudes of recording rather than his work in the concert hall. Klemperer regularly conducted Bruckner to great acclaim throughout his career, but Walter Legge was apparently not convinced that Bruckner would sell on LP and so kept Klemperer on a fairly tight leash. The six symphonies in this excellent box set were all recorded between 1960 and 1970 and reveal Legge’s caution to have been a mistake. The set includes a truly outstanding recording of the 4^th, together with thought-provoking and insightful performances of the other five symphonies.

Klemperer has a very deliberate approach to Bruckner. The steadiness of his tempi bring home how much variation there is in other conductors. I found myself anticipating accelerations and decelerations that never materialized. At his best he finds a pace that allows the inner logic of the symphony to unfold. Good examples come in the finale of the 5^th and the slow movement of the 7^th. Klemperer’s steady tempi pay enormous dividends in Bruckner’s codas, with the triumphant returns of themes from across the movements.

All of the great pre- and post-war conductors made recordings that were flawed by corrupt editions. Furtwängler and Knappersbusch are cases in point. The problems should have disappeared with the emergence of the Bruckner Critical Edition, which drew a veil over the emendations of well-meaning but misguided Brucknerians. But Klemperer made things worse for himself by making some outrageous cuts in the 8^th synmphony for his 1970 recording – adding up to 141 bars from the finale. The first three movements of this recording are wonderfully deliberate and monumental, which makes the mutilation of the finale ever more devastating.

Klemperer is a wonderful Bruckner conductor, and there is no danger of confusing him with anyone else. Klemperer’s characteristically sinewy and granite-like approach works as well with Bruckner as it does with Brahms or Beethoven. This very reasonably priced set ($20 or so for 6 discs) is an excellent compilation. All of the performances (with the exception of the 8^th) are reference performances and are recommended both to those new to Bruckner and to dedicated Brucknerians.