Chailly's Bruckner 6 in the Digital Concert Hall

Here is a sampler of the excellent performance of Bruckner's 6th by Riccardo Chailly archived in the Berlin Philharmonic's Digital Concert Hall. This is tremendous Bruckner playing and conducting. Well filmed too.

Jonathan Nott and Bamberger Symphoniker: Mahler 6

Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 6

Jonathon Nott

Bavarian State Philharmonic (Bamberger Symphoniker)

Tudor 7196

Jonathan Nott’s Mahler cycle with the Bamberger Symphoniker (A.K.A. the Bavarian State Philharmonic) is now complete. The cycle has been well received by critics and audiences – with considerable justice, on the strength of this recording which, like the others, is put out in a SACD hybrid format. Nott is a very fine Mahler conductor, not to my ear quite the equal of greats such as Walter, Klemperer, Bernstein, and Abbado, but definitely towards the front of the next cohort.

One controversy in performing Mahler 6 is the relative order of the Andante and the Scherzo. Mahler himself wavered. His original ordering, as reflected in the 1963 edition, placed the slow movement second (which is the ordering that we find in, for example, Beethoven’s 9 and Bruckner’s 8 symphonies). At the premiere in Essen on 27 May 1906, with Mahler himself at the podium, the order was reversed. This is followed in the latest (2010) critical edition. Nott reverts to Mahler’s original thought and plays the Scherzo before the Andante. Obviously there are no right answers here, but Nott makes a good case for his version of the architecture. His interpretation brings out both the contrasts and the continuity between the disintegrating nachtmusik of the Adagio and the huge sprawling Finale, whioch is Mahler’s longest movement, after the first movement of the third symphony.

Nott’s great strength as a Mahler conductor is his ability to maintain momentum and focus while clearly articulating the large-scale structure. He has a keen eye for detail, but never loses sight of the overall architecture. This comes across particularly clearly in the outer movements. Where lesser conductors simply drift past the landmarks in Mahler’s symphonic river, Nott is definitely steering the ship. At the same time Nott is sensitive to Mahler’s mood-painting, capturing well the sinister nature of the Scherzo, even in its more bucolic moments. He also delivers a ravishing performance of the elegiac and melancholy Adagio.

The finest performances of Mahler’s 6^th have an intensity, drive, and tragic dimension that Nott and the Bamberger Symphoniker do not quite reach. But they get closer than almost all others and this is a very good performance indeed. Highly recommended.

Review of Solti Bruckner and Stravinsky DVD

Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 3 (1877 edition)

Igor Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements

Georg Solti

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Arthaus Musik 100 321 (DVD)

Georg Solti’s conducting style is well showcased in this DVD recording of two 1993 concerts from the Philharmonie im Gasteig in Munich. The pairing is somewhat unusual. Stravinsky and Bruckner is not a regular combination. But it works well. The 81-year old conductor is in characteristically vigorous form and both pieces lend themselves to his forceful approach. 

The Third is Bruckner’s most Wagnerian (some would say: bombastic) symphony. Solti gives a driving performance that brings out the lyrical and dancing sections while keeping the overall architecture clearly in view. Both the first movement (Mehr lansam, misterioso) and the final Allegro demonstrate Solti’s ability to bring out the contrasts in Bruckner, particularly in the schizophrenic last movement that oscillates between a polka and a funeral march. The driving scherzo is terrific.

The virtues of Solti’s Bruckner conducting are very clear in the  Adagio, where the pace and momentum are finely judged to let the lyricism of the music come through. At the same time, though, Solti is not at the mystical end of Bruckner conducting and some listeners will think that there are depths to the music that he does not reach. I am sympathetic to that view, but still relish the energy and drive that Solti brings.

Energy and drive are also present in the Stravinsky, which was the first piece Stravinsky wrote after emigrating to the US. Here the videography helps the listener appreciate some of the nuances of the scoring (whereas in the Bruckner the cameras add relatively little). There is not much to be gained from the liner notes, however. As far as I can see, this is a minimally repackaged pair of TV broadcasts. At least, the sound quality is acceptable.

This DVD is certainly recommended for Solti enthusiasts. For a more general audience, it provides a distinctive (and very worthwhile) interpretation of Bruckner 3, as well as exposure to a Stravinsky piece that is not as frequently heard as it should be.