Bruckner's Abbey

[AnotherSpin]

[LKB]

My preferred recording of the Eighth, which Mr. Hurwitz claims is " badly recorded ( spoiler alert: it ain't    ) ".

[AnotherSpin]

My preferred recording of the Eighth, which Mr. Hurwitz claims is " badly recorded ( spoiler alert: it ain't    ) ".

I can't remember when my impression fully coincided with what Hurwitz said. But, it's okay.

[Cato]

My preferred recording of the Eighth, which Mr. Hurwitz claims is " badly recorded ( spoiler alert: it ain't   ) ".

I am shocked that Mr. Hurwitz could be wrong!   

Thanks for posting, it looks a great set!

The 7th Symphony, along with the 3rd, was my introduction to Brucker as well, such a powerfully impressive work; I'm tempted to celebrate the great Austrian composer with the 7th too, but to diversify, I'll choose the 9th.

Yes, thanks for the Concertgebouw link!

[LKB]

I was idly curious to see who else had a birthday today. Anton has some interesting company, the following list is extracted from Wikipedia:

Darius Milhaud
Mitzi Gaynor
Dick York
Tom Watson
Damon Wayans
Beyoncé

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_4

[amw]

Didn't realize today was his birthday and nevertheless had somehow already decided to listen to him (in this case the 8th, conducted by Hans Rosbaud). Weird how that works sometimes.

[Baxcalibur]

I didn't realize that, either. I'd been listening to the entire Skrowaczewski cycle over the last few weeks, and I thought the Labor Day weekend would be a good time to hear Nos. 7 through 9.

[Cato]

I didn't realize that, either. I'd been listening to the entire Skrowaczewski cycle over the last few weeks, and I thought the Labor Day weekend would be a good time to hear Nos. 7 through 9.

As I recall, the Sixth Symphony in that cycle was highly recommended:

[LKB]

For the Sixth I've settled on the EMI/Philharmonia/Klemperer, after trying von Karajan and a couple of others.

In 2014 l attended a performance by the VPO, with Andris Nelsons filling in for an ailing Franz Welser-Möst. While the orchestra sounded wonderful, l still wanted the Klemperer!

[DavidW]

I didn't realize that, either. I'd been listening to the entire Skrowaczewski cycle over the last few weeks, and I thought the Labor Day weekend would be a good time to hear Nos. 7 through 9.

He is my favorite conductor for Bruckner, tied with Jochum.  I will be listening to more Wand though!

[Cato]

He is my favorite conductor for Bruckner, tied with Jochum.  I will be listening to more Wand though!

Here is an excellent example Guenter Wand at work:

[Cato]

Courtesy of a BRUCKNER fan on another website: an article on Bruckner specialist Georg Tintner, who was also a composer!

Multiple exile was the singular experience of 20th-century Jewish musicians. Fleeing from fascist Europe, Soviet oppression and war, they sought audiences capable of giving them shelter and appreciating their talents. A key example is Vienna-born conductor and composer Georg Tintner, who worked in quasi-obscurity in New Zealand, Australia and Canada until late in life, when he was permitted to record Bruckner's symphonies for Naxos, by which time he was already elderly and suffering from cancer. As an "honorable" way to escape this disease, as Tintner put it, he committed suicide in 1999, at age 82.

Tintner is mostly remembered for his Bruckner CDs and, as one 1984 critic put it, for giving the appearance in concert of a "slightly underfed Old Testament prophet castigating the doubters of his congregation." Last April, a brilliant new biography, "Out of Time: The Vexed Life of Georg Tintner," appeared, almost entirely unheralded, from University of Western Australia Press (and available in America from International Specialized Book Services), patiently explaining the sources of Tintner's artistry.

Written by the conductor's widow, Tanya Buchdahl Tintner, a journalist and arts administrator, "Out of Time" narrates the musician's trajectory, starting in Vienna, where he was the first Jewish boy to be admitted to the noted Wiener Sängerknaben (Vienna Boys Choir). On a 1929 tour of Italy, at an audience with Pope Pius XI, Tintner was the only choirboy who refused to kiss the pope's ring. This may have exacerbated the first "vexed" aspect of Tintner's life. Wiener Sängerknaben's director, Josef Schnitt, was a notorious anti-Semite who tormented young Tintner in public, informing assemblies during prize-giving ceremonies: "And of course, there is nothing for the Jew."...

... in 1965, the mediocre conductor Richard Bonynge, ...banished Tintner to work as assistant prompter at The New Zealand Opera. ... Tintner wrote with delicately poignant forbearance to the opera administrator:

"Forgive me for making the personal observation that I see the years slip by (I was forty-seven in May) and I am being de- instead of promoted. Hitler cost me fifteen years of my life and I see less talented and younger people leaving me behind. I don't think many people who have conducted seventeen different operas from memory (not to speak of many symphonies etc.) have been used as prompters. Nevertheless the Hindus say: We are where we deserve to be — perhaps they are right."...

https://forward.com/culture/139493/being-where-he-deserves-to-be/

The article containing the above had the larger theme of conductors who did not  - or only rarely - perform the music of Gustav Mahler. And concerning Tintner on that topic:

...In 1970s lectures to Canadian music students, Tintner explained how he was repelled by the "self-pity," "self-hatred" and "self-loathing" that he discerned in much of Mahler's music. By contrast, Tintner loved Austrian-Catholic composer Anton Bruckner's music for its "consolation" and "assurance," adding his admiration for "that sort of cosmic feeling that, in spite of every horrible thing, the world can be a good place."

A few other excerpts:

Great conductors of Bruckner's music who have not performed Mahler's symphonies: Eugen Jochum, Sergiu Celibidache, Gunther Wand, Wofang Sawallisch, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Hans Knappertsbusch

Eugen Jochum made an excellent recording of "Das Lied von der Erde" (The Song of the Earth). It's a pity he wasn't motivated to perform Mahler's symphonies...

[Cato]

I forgot to include this: Georg Tintner's Trauermusik

[lordlance]

I didn't realize that, either. I'd been listening to the entire Skrowaczewski cycle over the last few weeks, and I thought the Labor Day weekend would be a good time to hear Nos. 7 through 9.

Wow someone referring to a Gen 9 Pokemon. That's rare. Do you like the design of Gen 9 Pokemons?

A great Sixth which I can recommend is Haitink's with Staatskapelle Dresden (not on YT sadly.)

[Cato]

A great Sixth which I can recommend is Haitink's with Staatskapelle Dresden (not on YT sadly.)

One must dig rather deeply into YouTube: it is in 4 separate videos.

It is ridiculous how YouTube scrambles such things!  If you are listening to the First Movement, the links to the next three are NOT readily available!

I had to search two more times to find the other movements, but they did exist in YouTube's vast ether! 

And commercials came on before the First and Fourth Movements: ugh! 


Anyway, here they are for anyone wishing to hear the performance mentioned by Lord Lance! 

[DavidW]

Wow someone referring to a Gen 9 Pokemon. That's rare. Do you like the design of Gen 9 Pokemons?

A great Sixth which I can recommend is Haitink's with Staatskapelle Dresden (not on YT sadly.)

Yes!! I love that recording.  Perhaps my favorite...

[Cato]

One must dig rather deeply into YouTube: it is in 4 separate videos.

It is ridiculous how YouTube scrambles such things!  If you are listening to the First Movement, the links to the next three are NOT readily available!

I had to search two more times to find the other movements, but they did exist in YouTube's vast ether! 

And commercials came on before the First and Fourth Movements: ugh! 


Anyway, here they are for anyone wishing to hear the performance mentioned by Lord Lance! 

Yes!! I love that recording.  Perhaps my favorite...

Eugen Jochum conducted his second series with the 1970's Staatskapelle Dresden. 

The usual wisdom about the set is that it might have a "rawer" sound at times, but is more dynamic or powerful than  the DGG set.


Here on ONE screen is the entire performance!

[Baxcalibur]

Wow someone referring to a Gen 9 Pokemon. That's rare. Do you like the design of Gen 9 Pokemons?

They're hit-or-miss for me, although I could say that about most gens. I mainly chose this one for my profile because I was listening to Arnold Bax at the time.

Eugen Jochum conducted his second series with the 1970's Staatskapelle Dresden. 

The usual wisdom about the set is that it might have a "rawer" sound at times, but is more dynamic or powerful than  the DGG set.

All the instruments share a singing quality to their sound, and in the case of the brass, the occasional belting. They really sing in the softer parts of the 1st-movement coda - just listen to the horns starting at 13:39!

[Cato]

Courtesy of FaceBook member who says he is the curator of a Bruckner Museum: a 15-minute video on Bruckner.

Of interest is the international character of the creators:


Script by Yan Xing Lee

Voiceover by Oscar Osicki

Edit by Eddie Muniz


Like all great music, Bruckner's ignores divisions of any kind!    

[Cato]

This performance of the Symphony #3 was raved about by a Bruckner fan on FaceBook: any opinions?