Bravo! Maestro Giulini Bravo!

Carlo Maria Giulini, a name often associated with slow and somewhat lacklustre readings if one knows him only by his recordings in his late years, has an inimitable style which can sing and dance in your heart if you know his recordings at the peak of his career. After 1984 when his wife suffered from a stroke and he insisted on travelling not too far away from her (hence his appearance in Europe only), his tempo lengthened and the spark of fire and energy which once so characteristic of him simply slid away.

His recordings with the VPO of the last three Bruckner symphonies on DG are the glorious documents of a true and venerable Brucknerian. The newly issued Bruckner 7th and 8th with BPO by Testament are gems that lovers of this Maestro just can't live without. The VPO 7th is arguably the less successful among the three issued by DG, but this BPO 7th has done more than "redeeming" his fame, it redefines his supremacy.

Listen to his Italian cantabile in Bruckner's melodies and especially in the gesangperiode, and it can melt your heart. The opening cello theme in B7 sang and the strings and woodwinds did the same later. In the great Adagio, I treasure how he maintained a long line and tension in the horns after the climax, providing a sense of solace, and not a sense of anticlimax as in less deft hands. It's all singing and dancing in the Scherzo. The Finale added the jewel to the crown with verve and carried the symphony to a full bloom.

Bravo!