Topic: Bruckner's 6th Symphony - Blind Comparison

[Ken B]

I may have asked about this before: was this conductor included in the comparison?

Roberto Paternostro?

The Amazon site has 16 reviews: 14 5-star reviews      , and 2 4-star ones!

I am skeptical, but...

I have that set and am going through it a bit at a time.
My reaction is positive but mixed. The best way I can explain it is, think Abravanel. There is some great stuff here, really committed, and some problems with intonation too. A regional orchestra giving its best. I like the feel of it enough to forgive the rough patches (which are not rare). Some terrific sound, and some over reverberance.
I wouldn't want it to be my first or only Bruckner. I prefer it to Wand 

Paternostro studied with HvK I think. His is a big Bruckner approach.

[André]

Thanks for the hint. I had not imagined this was so cheap. Your recommendation sealed the deal ! 

[Cato]

I have that set and am going through it a bit at a time.

Paternostro studied with HvK I think. His is a big Bruckner approach.

Nothing wrong with that!   

Thanks for the comments: I wondered about all those rave reviews, given the Hinterwäldler nature of the thing!

[Ken B]

You do realize, Ken, that you're going to have to change your tune concerning Ives. If not, you might be blackballed.

Sarge

Nothin' wrong with Ives, nothin' at all.

[Brian]

(are you planning to vote on group J in the Schubert, btw, or should I close it?)

I'll vote on that tomorrow morning (in about 11 hours from this post)

[TheGSMoeller]

Again, a big thank you to everyone. This was a lot of fun, makes me interested in doing another BC soon. Perhaps not as big or long, I would really like to do just an Adagio comparison of the 7th. 
I listened to the 6th a ton during this BC, and my admiration for the work grew even more. I still have some of my old favorites like Nagano, Norrington, Chailly and Blomstedt to name a few, but have really become quite fond of new ones like Davies and Klemperer. Also, amw mentioned Rozhdestvensky in another thread, listen to his version of the finale's coda, it's thrilling.

Hopefully discussions will continue on this thread. And I have some 6th recordings I would be willing to give away or even trade if anyone is interested. I'll list some of them later on.

[Cosi bel do]

I wasn't here when this comparison started and didn't have time to join it. Also, Bruckner's 6th has never been one of my favourites. Still, it is very interesting and a great read and I'm sure I would have had great fun if I could take part in it.

I love when results are like this, half predictable, half big surprise.
I'll certainly check the Van Zweden version.

TheGSMoeller, could you maybe edit your first post with a summary of the result and/or a link to them ? I still have difficulties seeing what versions were included/omitted and I know such summaries can be useful for the future.

If I make no mistake, the selection was really good but lacked (in my opinion) the following versions :
- Blomstedt with Gewandhaus Leipzig (better than with SFS)
- Rögner with RSO Berlin
- Andreae with Wiener Symphoniker
- Keilberth with Berliner Philharmoniker
- Wand with NDR on RCA (his best version I'd say)
- Sawallisch with Bayerisches Staatsorchester (less sure about this one though)

I thinl almost all these versions would have been strong contenders. But then the organizer always has to make choices and I respect that

Also, if there are tied versions at the second place, Wand should be fourth

[amw]

Also, amw mentioned Rozhdestvensky in another thread, listen to his version of the finale's coda, it's thrilling.

Rozhdestvensky might actually be my #1 choice if the sound and orchestra were better, interpretive choices are close to ideal for me. I do recommend people investigate.

Have you got the liner notes to the van Zweden cd handy? Apparently, it uses a new revision of the score. I heard only a few differences in the actual notes played, but am curious as to what that version says about tempi and dynamics in particular, or what the differences are otherwise supposed to be.

edit: unbeknownst to me, Rozhdestvensky has in fact recorded lots of Bruckner, including two versions of the 1st symphony and three each of the 3rd and 4th. Bruckner overload, man. I'll come back to him later

[Moonfish]

In regards to Symphony No 6 I will remain in Jochum's Bruckner temple no matter what!!      

[TheGSMoeller]

I wasn't here when this comparison started and didn't have time to join it. Also, Bruckner's 6th has never been one of my favourites. Still, it is very interesting and a great read and I'm sure I would have had great fun if I could take part in it.

I love when results are like this, half predictable, half big surprise.
I'll certainly check the Van Zweden version.

TheGSMoeller, could you maybe edit your first post with a summary of the result and/or a link to them ? I still have difficulties seeing what versions were included/omitted and I know such summaries can be useful for the future.

If I make no mistake, the selection was really good but lacked (in my opinion) the following versions :
- Blomstedt with Gewandhaus Leipzig (better than with SFS)
- Rögner with RSO Berlin
- Andreae with Wiener Symphoniker
- Keilberth with Berliner Philharmoniker
- Wand with NDR on RCA (his best version I'd say)
- Sawallisch with Bayerisches Staatsorchester (less sure about this one though)

I thinl almost all these versions would have been strong contenders. But then the organizer always has to make choices and I respect that

Also, if there are tied versions at the second place, Wand should be fourth

Hi, Cosi, thank you for your interest. I'll compile a list of all recordings used along with the recording year and the version.

And there will always be good versions left out of the comparisons. It's happened with all of them. These are not definitive contests to crown the true best recording of a work, but just a fun comparison. Similar with the Berlioz fantastique comparison I like to throw in a few discs that either aren't as popular or not heavily acclaimed to see how far they can make it. Also availability and accessibility of a recording is important as I didn't want to spend too much money for this.

[TheGSMoeller]

Rozhdestvensky might actually be my #1 choice if the sound and orchestra were better, interpretive choices are close to ideal for me. I do recommend people investigate.

Have you got the liner notes to the van Zweden cd handy? Apparently, it uses a new revision of the score. I heard only a few differences in the actual notes played, but am curious as to what that version says about tempi and dynamics in particular, or what the differences are otherwise supposed to be.

edit: unbeknownst to me, Rozhdestvensky has in fact recorded lots of Bruckner, including two versions of the 1st symphony and three each of the 3rd and 4th. Bruckner overload, man. I'll come back to him later

It says Nowak, 1952. Some interesting notes inside about the various editions, I'll try to snap pics of it and post it.

[amw]

Hmm, really? I was following along with that score and noticed one place where Zweden was significantly different (the horns near the start of the trio section) (though I suppose that's not really a 'significant' difference by Brucknerian standards of revision).

[Moonfish]

This was so much fun. This was the summer I fell in love with Bruckner's 6th.  Yay!
Good memories!

Anyways, I came across a comparative article on MusicWeb that Bruckner 6 maniacs may take interest in.

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2018/Jan/Bruckner_sy6_article_CH.pdf


Bruckner 6 ad below.... 

[Cato]

This was so much fun. This was the summer I fell in love with Bruckner's 6th.  Yay!
Good memories!

Anyways, I came across a comparative article on MusicWeb that Bruckner 6 maniacs may take interest in.

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2018/Jan/Bruckner_sy6_article_CH.pdf


Bruckner 6 ad below.... 

Many thanks!  Has it been four years since the epic BRUCKNER SIXTH SYMPHONY  BLIND  COMPARISON?!

And yes to that recording, the first one of the work I had ever heard, by (unofficial)    Saint Eugen Jochum!  

[TheGSMoeller]

Wow! Seeing this pop up on my Unread list made me do a double take. Yes this was a ton of fun, and I still have around 20 Bruckner 6th recordings lying around to constantly remind me it. 

This was so much fun. This was the summer I fell in love with Bruckner's 6th.  Yay!
Good memories!

Anyways, I came across a comparative article on MusicWeb that Bruckner 6 maniacs may take interest in.

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2018/Jan/Bruckner_sy6_article_CH.pdf


Bruckner 6 ad below.... 

Thanks for posting the article! Contained recordings I've never heard, and more importantly not in the Blind Comparison, perhaps we need to revisit it with new contenders? 

[Moonfish]

Wow! Seeing this pop up on my Unread list made me do a double take. Yes this was a ton of fun, and I still have around 20 Bruckner 6th recordings lying around to constantly remind me it. 


Thanks for posting the article! Contained recordings I've never heard, and more importantly not in the Blind Comparison, perhaps we need to revisit it with new contenders? 

 


 

And thanks for organizing it and making it happen back then, Greg. It was a very cool experience!
I was going camping with my kids that summer. While driving we had Bruckner 6 blasting in the car. Ha ha ha! People probably wondered which planet we came from?

[Moonfish]

Just listening to a Bruckner 6 (Wand/Kölner Rundfunk [Wand's 1st cycle]) and it is a mesmerizing symphony....   

*engrained upon the soul after summer 2014*

[Moonfish]

Many thanks!  Has it been four years since the epic BRUCKNER SIXTH SYMPHONY  BLIND  COMPARISON?!

And yes to that recording, the first one of the work I had ever heard, by (unofficial)    Saint Eugen Jochum!  

 

Hail Saint Eugen Jochum!

[Pat B]

(Wand/Kölner Rundfunk [Wand's 1st cycle])

Well, that is his only cycle, though he did record the 8th approximately 973 times.

[Moonfish]

Well, that is his only cycle, though he did record the 8th approximately 973 times.

True - his only complete cycle - I guess he avoided 1-3 quite a bit!     I still view his latter recordings as a type/variation of "cycles" (although incomplete) . My bad!  Plenty of Wand's Bruckner recordings out there!!!