This Barenboim/CSO Bruckner cycle brings back memory of a bitter experience to me. It has also left a regretful gap in my collection of Bruckner box-sets for a long while. I got this set in the early 1990's but lost it when I moved house a couple of years later. Right now only 2 sets are missing from my collection. One is the set by the Korean conductor Lee Dong-Ho recorded with the Jeju Philharmonic Orchestra, which still hasn't managed to attract my desire to acquire it for the time being. I might do so if I go to Korea to spend my holiday there in future. The other is this DG set by Barenboim. All the other complete or partial sets listed in John Berky's discography are all safe and sound in my cabinets.
I was very excited when this set was reissued in Japan in Dec 2009 by Tower Records Japan in their Universal Vintage Collection but it was expensive (7500 yen) and Tower Records does not entertain overseas shipment. This DG reissued set comes at the perfect time because I was about to ask a friend of mine who would go to Tokyo to buy the Japanese set for me. Now I can save the trouble and money because the DG set is significantly cheaper.
Another highly attractive reissue is the "Rafael Kubelik conducts Great Symphonies" box on Sony/BMG. It includes the Bruckner Third and Fourth, lovely renditions one should not miss, late Mozart symphonies, again lovely and charismatic, and the 4 Schumann symphonies. All in all a true bargain.
The future seems bright but my experience with new Bruckner releases was not at all happy in the last few months. An eagerly awaited disc is Blomstedt's new B3 on Querstand, but much to my disappointment it was delayed till October. The Nagano B7 and B8 was originally advertised in HMV Japan as to be released in June or so, but B7 was delayed till next week -- I hope it won't be postponed once again -- and B8 till Oct. The Dudamel B9 should be available next week.
Meanwhile, I'm "working at" the Bruckner Fifth recordings by Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra (TMSO, 東京都交響楽団) which prove to be very interesting, including a wonderful performance by Peter Maag from a recently released disc on the Japanese label Tobu Recordings. My friends were also very satisfied with the performance when I recommended them to have a listen.
Hi Horace
ReplyDeleteHope you're well. I have just added the Barenboim CSO box to my burgeoning collection.
Haven't had time to sample more than the 4th as yet - but I must say I am mightily impressed. It is always staggering to reflect on the different emotional experiences one can derive from listening to the same work in different, but equally talented, hands.
I listened only yesterday to Istvan Kertesz with the LSO (live in 1965 on the BBC label) and in the wonderful acoustic of Kingsway Hall for Decca in 1966 (studio). Kertesz is wonderfully measured in both instances, with the LSO playing as if to the manner born (those characterful woodwinds!)and the recordings are both very good indeed.
But the response provoked in the listener is quite different to that which the bold, exuberant, bordering on 'ferocious' Barenboim brings (first movement especially). The mental state in which I was left was markedly different in each case - the wonders of musical genius perhaps.
I only wish those nay-sayers who glance at my collection with incredulity and ask why "you have so many recordings of the SAME music" could appreciate these widly differing responses, but I fear it is lost on some poor souls!
I had to smile at your reference to "senseless babble in a hypnagogic state", too. A state I recognise only too well ;-)
Best wishes to you & your family, as always
Karafan
Dear Karafan,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much indeed for your blessings. In fact it is heart-warming to see your comments.
Your experience of having different feelings towards different performances of the same piece of music is one of the reasons that so many music lovers want to keep different recordings of the same music. From the angst of Furtwangler, through the lyricism of Kempe, the poetic fervour of Giulini, the musicality of Tintner, the monumentalness of Wand, the sometimes senuousness of Rozhdestvensky, to the otherworldliness of Celibidache, different interpretations will fill the spectrum of human pathos from one end to the other.
Thank you once again for sharing with us your experience, and best wishes to you and your family.
Horace
Yes, Horace that is an excellent distillation of some of their most memorable qualities. 'Poetic fervour' is a splendid encapsulation of Giulini's art.
ReplyDeleteI have, incidentally, just taken delivery of Giulini's live BPO (Testament label) recording from the Philharmonie, Berlin in February 1984.
This was selected last week as the BBC Radio 3 "Building a Library" top recommendation of Bruckner 8 by the eminent critic Richard Osborne.
I have long had, and always enjoyed, Giulini's VPO studio 8th so I will enjoy embarking on his live Berlin traversal. I'd be interested to know your thoughts on it, too!
Warmest wishes
Karafan
Dear Karafan,
ReplyDeleteI've also listened to RO's programme and got some understanding of his preference for certain tempo relationships.
The Testament release is a live BPO recording, only 3 months before the justly famous DG VPO version.
I've long been fascinated by the glow of the VPO sound in Bruckner and this B8 is a good example of it, augmented by a healthy degree of majestic grandeur. The BPO performance has greater urgency and the woodwinds are plaintive as opposed to VPO's aristocratic aura.
The biggest difference is in the Adagio, where the BPO version is more compact and hence more intense emotionalwise; here is where my description of "poetic fervour" originated. One special difference is in the recap when Giulini brings forth a ray of hope and then falls into despair at the end in the BPO performance. But the same passages are melancholic throughout in the VPO one.
Both recordings are much loved by me, but the extra tension and fervour in the live recording will tip the balance. We are really fortunate to have these recordings. That's why I have to shout Bravo from the bottom of my heart in my blog entry of Giulini's Testament BPO Bruckner releases.
Best regards,
Horace
Why do you think the Jeju Philharmonic set might not be worth buying? If I've discovered anything it's that there are magnificent orchestras all over the world. Indeed, I often enjoy listening to Japanese orchestras in Bruckner because of the special transparency they bring his music.
ReplyDeleteI downloaded a few Jeju recordings from ABRUCKNER and was very impressed (5 and 8). Very disciplined but with lots of bite when required. If you want, you can find the orchestra on you tube playing the first movement of Bruckner 4.
I think you've mistaken me; I've never meant the Jeju Philharmonic set was not worth buying. In fact I said explicitly that I might buy it when I go to Jeju Island, and I've planned to go there with my wife next spring. I prefer physical products rather than downloads if I have a choice.
ReplyDeleteAs for Japanese orchestras, I've got quite a few of their Bruckner recordings and I've always been impressed by them. By the same token, Japanese conductors in general exhibit a good understanding of Bruckner's music. Blog entries in this topic are in the pipeline.
(BTW, I presume you know that Jeju Philharmonic is a Korean, not Japanese, orchestra.)
Horace
Sorry for the misreading (an internet habit of mine). Yes, I knew it was a Korean orchestra, but had never heard a Korean orchestra so used the Japanese ones as a reference (although Koreans might not enjoy that). All of the Koreans I've met have been very outgoing and I think you can heard that in these recordings. .
ReplyDeleteYes, there are many excellent musicians in classical music in Korea, as one can see in nearly every major music competition, but then it is another story..........
ReplyDelete