Bruckner's Abbey

[jlaurson]

I think I'll bug everyone again since that Karajan 7 recording was so awesome!

What is your favorite recording of the Bruckner 6 in modern sound?

Hmm... when done well, it's my secret favorite. If you can't find Celibidache (EMI, one of my all-time favorite Bruckner recordings), try Haitink/Dresden (PROFIL):


Bruckner, Symphony No. 6, Bernard Haitink
http://www.weta.org/fmblog/?p=121

Also really, surprisingly good is Norrington's Sixth. Janowski  I have before me but hasn't yet struck me as all that special.

[Brahmsian]

I hope you're not ranking #00 and 0 above #6.

Nope, I wasn't holding # 6 in consideration with 00 and 0.  In fact, I don't even have recordings of those two, and have only heard both of them once.

[Scarpia]

I think I'll bug everyone again since that Karajan 7 recording was so awesome!

What is your favorite recording of the Bruckner 6 in modern sound?

Aside from the 8th, I would probably place the 6th as my favorite among Bruckner's symphonies.  The slow movement, in particular, is luminous.  I don't think I've ever heard a recording of the 6th that I failed to find something interesting in.  Chailly's recording with the Concertgebouw is certainly a fine one, with very good sound.  My favorite is probably the Karajan/Berlin, but the Sawallisch recording on Orfeo is also very fine.    I find myself curious about the Janowski recording on Pentatone.

[kishnevi]

I'd love to hear suggestions as well, since that really is the only remaining Bruckner symphony that I'm not overly enthusiastic about. 

A suggestion of what not to get--Colin Davis on LSO Live, which manages to make this symphony sound in several passages like the rejected score for Lawrence of Arabia.

[DavidW]

The only one I can find to preview on nml out of the ones listed is Norrington, if that blows me away I'll buy it, else I'll blind buy either Celibidache, Haitink, or Sawallisch.

[jlaurson]

"Magnificent" Isn't Quite the Right Word: Nagano in Bruckner
http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2010/12/magnificent-isnt-quite-right-word.html

[Brian]

The only one I can find to preview on nml out of the ones listed is Norrington, if that blows me away I'll buy it, else I'll blind buy either Celibidache, Haitink, or Sawallisch.

Haitink should be on there; that label usually is.

[Lethevich]

I second that Haitink 6th on Profil, the orchestra sounds phenomonal.

[DavidW]

Haitink should be on there; that label usually is.

No his 6th wasn't, and just because a label is present doesn't mean that all of their recordings are.

[DavidW]

I second that Haitink 6th on Profil, the orchestra sounds phenomonal.

Yes, finely nuanced, sumptuous soud, and subtle interplay of moods, it really captures the heart of the piece more than the other recordings I've heard by not falling into the trap of playing it like it was just all of the other symphonies.  Bravo!

And that was a fantastic rec Jens.

[DavidW]

And now I ask for best/favorite Bruckner 5th in modern sound.

[bhodges]

And now I ask for best/favorite Bruckner 5th in modern sound.

Some that I love (and I haven't heard many recent ones), in no particular order.  Just saw the Cleveland DVD a few weeks ago and it's marvelous, if you are inclined to watch as well as listen.

Sinopoli/Dresden
Welser-Möst/Cleveland (DVD)
Chailly/Concertgebouw
Dohnányi/Cleveland

--Bruce

[jlaurson]

And now I ask for best/favorite Bruckner 5th in modern sound.

Celibidache on Altus . Or EMI. Not cheap in either case, but the Altus (as good as the EMI, some [not me] argue it's even better) is available and not completely unreasonably priced for 2 CDs. (Link is to the UK, US here.)

alternatively Thielemann. http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2005/04/slow-food-for-ears-bruckners-5th-with.html

(for the slow-burn experience).

Otherwise I second the Sinopoli.

The recent Haitink (BR Klassik) [Review of the concert at which it was recorded here is very fine, but perhaps just a touch uneventful.

Sarge might mention Barenboim's Berlin Phil 5th. But it is not my favorite, to put it mildly... but sometimes I'm wrong, of course.  [used copies can be cheaply had.] Incidentally, Barenboim will record a whole new cycle of Bruckner (and Beethoven) for Deutsche Grammophon with the Berlin Staatskapelle.

[Scarpia]

Incidentally, Barenboim will record a whole new cycle of Bruckner (and Beethoven) for Deutsche Grammophon with the Berlin Staatskapelle.

My lord.  Is Barenboim such a Bruckner luminary that we need three Bruckner cycles from him?   

[jlaurson]

My lord.  Is Barenboim such a Bruckner luminary that we need three Bruckner cycles from him?   

No. But it seems fair that now as he's finally understood Bruckner, he gets to record it again.

[Scarpia]

No. But it seems fair that now as he's finally understood Bruckner, he gets to record it again.

His current work is substantially different from the n-1 cycle from the Berliner Philharmoniker?  I can't help think we'd be better served with a cycle from someone who hasn't had their turn yet.   

[Cato]

Some that I love (and I haven't heard many recent ones), in no particular order.  Just saw the Cleveland DVD a few weeks ago and it's marvelous, if you are inclined to watch as well as listen.

Sinopoli/Dresden
Welser-Möst/Cleveland (DVD)
Chailly/Concertgebouw
Dohnányi/Cleveland

--Bruce

In the 1990's I had the opportunity to hear Dohnanyi with The Cleveland Orchestra in this work, and there was an instant standing ovation at the end, so great was the crackling emotional electricity in the hall from the grand finale!

[jlaurson]

His current work is substantially different from the n-1 cycle from the Berliner Philharmoniker?  I can't help think we'd be better served with a cycle from someone who hasn't had their turn yet.   

The n-1 (No.1?) cycle was the Chicago one (DG), no? The second one then on Teldec. In any case, I was being somewhat facetious. And I assume it's not an either-or choice. Though Dresden/Thielemann on DG (which is not going to happen) surely seems more tantalizing, don't it?!

[bhodges]

In the 1990's I had the opportunity to hear Dohnanyi with The Cleveland Orchestra in this work, and there was an instant standing ovation at the end, so great was the crackling emotional electricity in the hall from the grand finale!

Ah... 0:)  Those were some great, great years with the orchestra.  Nothing like the Cleveland brass, playing their guts out at the end!

--Bruce

[Scarpia]

The n-1 (No.1?) cycle was the Chicago one (DG), no? The second one then on Teldec. In any case, I was being somewhat facetious. And I assume it's not an either-or choice. Though Dresden/Thielemann on DG (which is not going to happen) surely seems more tantalizing, don't it?!

n-1 would be Berlin, which I have and like although I wouldn't rate it as the very best.   (I don't have the Chicago cycle, and am not sure it was ever issued on CD in its entirety.)  Bottom line, I'm skeptical that the new DG would be much different than the previous Teldec/BP, except with inferior audio engineering. 

I can't say who I would want to hear in Bruckner, but someone who is making a first crack at it would be preferable.   I would have said Maazel, but his cycle is just coming out.  Maybe Blomstedt.  I liked the Bruckner recordings he made in San Francisco.