I don't know how to describe my fondness of his recordings of Bruckner's symphonies. Of course there must be someone who commented badly on them for whatever reasons, but I'm sure you must be lying if you don't think the orchestral playing is immaculate and the orchestral sonority is full-bodied, rich and colourful, and yet is also transparent. Sinopoli's interpretation is masterly and beautiful, but then beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and my appreciation and enjoyment of his art will not be tarnished by others' negative comments.
The sad reality is, many of these recordings have been deleted from DG's catalogue.
The sad reality is, many of these recordings have been deleted from DG's catalogue.
Completely agree. I am a huge Sinopoli fan, and his recordings of the Bruckner symphonies are among my favorites - deeply lyrical, energetic, probing. He had a very special sense and feel for the expressive values of color and texture. It is a tragedy that died so early.
ReplyDeleteBTW, he did also conduct the 6th symphony, at least once with the Philharmonia in London. There is a live recording from a BBC broadcast of that concert. It seemed unclear whether it was really Sinopoli conducting in that recording, but some research a friend of mine and me did a while ago confirmed it was him. There is also a great video of the 4th with him and the Philharmonia in Japan.
Dear Michael,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your comments and your recommendation. I'm indeed very happy that you also like Sinopoli's art. I have the B6 in mp3 files and I'm grateful you tell me that it was confirmed to be a performance by Sinopoli. I obtained the DVD you mention after this post was written and it is lovely.
Warm regards,
Horace
Dear Horace,
ReplyDeleteI got the Japan Tower Records reissue and listened to them several times. I'm pretty impressed by the sonority of Staatskapelle Dresden and the nuance of Sinopoli's conducting. It now becomes one of my favorite incomplete Bruckner cycle.
Best wishes,
Sky
Hi Sky,
DeleteI'm really glad you like these recordings. Thank you for telling me.
Happy Listening,
Horace
So great to find another fan of Sinopoli-Bruckner cycle (well, almost !). There seem to be many articles I'd like to make some comments, but let's make this the first one. I myself sometimes thought that being a Brucknerian requires kind of a full time job, and you (in addition to John Burky) must be an example of my theory ! I also regard myself to be an incorrigible Brucknerian and spend a good deal of my time listening to and pondering upon his music.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Sinopoli's performances of Bruckner symphonies, 3 5 7 9 in particular in my case, I think it's someone's significant loss if he misses these recordings among entire Bruckner discography. In my opinion, Sinopoli's surgical precision + DSK's virtuosity/rapport + Klaus Hiemann's magical tonemeistering contributed achieving this feat. But, again, not many appreciate this wonderful recordings, as you've noticed !! Well, that's ok because it's not for everybody for sure, and I'm just glad to find another like-eared Brucknerian here.
Dear Kidon,
DeleteThank you so much for your comments and the shared affinity to Sinopoli's Bruckner.
Happy listening!
Best regards,
Horace