Bruckner's Abbey

[calyptorhynchus]

Professor John Phillips of the quartet of musicologists, who worked on the reconstruction of the Ninth Symphony's Finale with the aid of a few new discoveries, has recently done his own revision of their work.


It has been performed by a student/professor orchestra in Germany, and is set to be performed by professional orchestras this year, one of them being in Tokyo with Eliahu Inbal conducting, who obviously thinks the revision is worthy of his time!

I had no idea Inbal was still alive! 

[LKB]

You don't stream?

Nope. I've yet to encounter any type of online file delivery which offers comparable sound quality to physical media. I only pay for CDs or SACDs, and then rip them to lossless files.

[DavidW]

Nope. I've yet to encounter any type of online file delivery which offers comparable sound quality to physical media. I only pay for CDs or SACDs, and then rip them to lossless files.

Ah you do it just like Mirror Image!  Rip and listen.  I also saw some posters on either Steve Hoffman forum or Reddit say that they were burned too often by different masters or sneaky mp3s re-encoded as flac to buy digital downloads.  They only have confidence in ripping the cds themselves.

[lordlance]

Nope. I've yet to encounter any type of online file delivery which offers comparable sound quality to physical media. I only pay for CDs or SACDs, and then rip them to lossless files.

TIDAL? Apple Lossless? Deezer has lossless too. 

[Atriod]

Ah you do it just like Mirror Image!  Rip and listen.  I also saw some posters on either Steve Hoffman forum or Reddit say that they were burned too often by different masters or sneaky mp3s re-encoded as flac to buy digital downloads.  They only have confidence in ripping the cds themselves.

I have an extremely easy time hearing the Tidal watermark which others on an audiophile board said they couldn't hear.

https://www.mattmontag.com/music/universals-audible-watermark
https://www.mattmontag.com/music/an-update-on-umg-watermarks

Was just reading a thread on TalkClassical where people were praising the sound of Ebene Quartet's dynamically compressed Beethoven cycle on CD. It takes all kinds.

[Cato]

The Symphony #4, especially the Finale and how it was S L O W L Y conducted by
S. Celibidache, was under discussion at a Bruckner website:

The Finale of the Fourth is, together with the slow movement of the Sixth with the same forces, the highlight of the recordings of 3-9 with the Munich Phil. For some it is out of court because of the astonishingly slow tempo, but while I believe that is true for many movements among the 7 symphonies in the Warner box, the Finale of the 4th, while 'wrong' according to some, works, and must be heard to get any sense of just how effective it is. It is amazing.

For me his Finale does not work because the distended treatment transforms the work into something else ie the Finale becomes self-conscious. But I won't say it is wrong.

What an amazing experience this is, most especially the final movement, which is absolutely exceptional, transcending all other recordings I know

Any opinions here?

[LKB]

Celibidache's Fourth work's for me, despite the tempos. The tension in the final coda is perfectly paced, and I'm glad to have his version available if only as a change of pace from Böhm's, my usual preference.

[Cato]

Bruckner in China might seem odd, because of the persecution of Religion in general by the government there, but whose music might be more appropriate because of that situation?

"...(Bruckner) happens to be one of the favorite composers of conductor Lyu Jia, the artistic director of music at the National Centre for the Performing Arts and the music director of the China NCPA Orchestra.

Lyu initiated a project recording Bruckner's symphonies in 2016.

On March 14, he announced the release of the latest recording of Bruckner's eighth symphony, which was performed by the China NCPA Orchestra under Lyu's baton....

...NCPA Classics — the record label under the NCPA — has released four recordings of the composer's symphonies, No 3, No 9, No 7 and No 8...."

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202403/18/WS65f7e11fa31082fc043bd388.html

[Daverz]

Tomorrow (or today for those in the far East) Sony will issue a small box of RCA recordings of William Steinberg and the Boston Symphony.  The most intriguing thing in the box is a Bruckner 6.  This previously was released by RCA back in the day on a terrible LP pressing.  Then a CD appeared in Japan that sounded just as bad as the LP. 

I'm happy to report that this digital transfer sounds great.





Otherwise the box is an odd grab bag.  The third disc has bits conducted by Ozawa and Leinsdorf that I believe have appeared on CD elsewhere (I don't have notes). And the fourth disc is Fiedler conducting the Dvorak 9 and Carnival Overture in Boston (?!)  We really need a proper Fiedler box, Sony.

[Cato]

Tomorrow (or today for those in the far East) Sony will issue a small box of RCA recordings of William Steinberg and the Boston Symphony.  The most intriguing thing in the box is a Bruckner 6.  This previously was released by RCA back in the day on a terrible LP pressing.  Then a CD appeared in Japan that sounded just as bad as the LP. 

I'm happy to report that this digital transfer sounds great.

Thanks for the information!


I have not had time to listen to this, but perhaps it is the new, improved version:

[Daverz]

Thanks for the information!


I have not had time to listen to this, but perhaps it is the new, improved version:

This digital transfer was not available a year ago, so I assume this is just a needle drop. 

On the other hand, this Bruckner 7 with Pittsburgh is a new digital transfer (it was on an MCA CD at one time, coupled with the Knappertsbusch Symphony No. 8 ).

[Cato]

News from Professor John Phillips about a performance of his revision of the Ninth Symphony's Finale:

 The two Tokyo performances next month are 4 and 5 June, in Suntory Hall, Tokyo, by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra under their emeritus conductor Eliahu Inbal.

We've also just had confirmed that the Hallé Orchestra of Manchester will be performing and recording the work for release on their own label, performing it on 26 October 2024, under their new conductor Kahchun Wong.

[Cato]

And another orchestra and conductor have accepted the new revision of the Finale: February 6, 2025!

Riccardo Chailly, the Concertgebouw Orchestra and Bruckner have been a winning combination for years. But the version of Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 performed here is quite new....


...Many fragments of the missing finale were found among Bruckner's personal effects. And for more than a century, these made up a fascinating puzzle, yet no one could piece them together to form a convincing whole. But a team of musicologists changed all that in 2012. The performance version by Samale, Phillips, Cohrs and Mazzuca is astounding, and changes the symphony's tragic character: after three dark movements, the last brings redemption. Performed here is the 'SPCM' version heard in J.A. Phillips's most recent revision dating from 2021–22.... 

See:

https://www.concertgebouworkest.nl/en/concert/bruckner-cycle/ninth-symphony

[Valentino]

That's something to look forward to!
Incidentally I just listened to  Abbabo and Lucerne FO in the 9th, the DG/Accentus release.
Shall not say too much about it, I consider myself a Bruckner novice.

[Cato]

That's something to look forward to!

Incidentally I just listened to  Abbado and Lucerne FO in the 9th, the DG/Accentus release.
Shall not say too much about it, I consider myself a Bruckner novice.

Abbado is usually a safe choice for any work: I recall a concert with him conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in Beethoven's Symphony #4 followed by Schoenberg's Pelleas und Melisande.

The latter work was given chamber-like clarity and the climaxes were tremendously powerful!

The Bruckner Symphony IX performance here is considered a classic:

[Le Buisson Ardent]

I started the year off very in a Bruckner kind of mood and coincidently it's his anniversary year. A set that really blew my mind was this one with Rémy Ballot on the Gramola label:



Ballot's tempi are slow --- Celibidache slow. Ballot was Celibidache's last student and I think he rubbed off on him for the better, IMO. Anyway, this set was a revelation to me and the performances of the 2nd and 6th symphonies in particular almost left me breathless. The only symphony that isn't up to snuff is the 9th, which Ballot basically massacres the Scherzo with his expansive approach. It just doesn't work well to my ears. The first and third movements are handled beautifully, though. Anyway, I just thought I'd mention this set and express my enthusiasm for it.

[Valentino]

I've had time to listen to the three first movements of the new LP remaster of the Barenboim Chicago 4 «Romantic». It's well recorded and mastered. Bruckner in a fun blows your hair back way.

[Roasted Swan]

I've had time to listen to the three first movements of the new LP remaster of the Barenboim Chicago 4 «Romantic». It's well recorded and mastered. Bruckner in a fun blows your hair back way.

And why not!  For me too much of the time this music is presented as some kind of religious experience that has to be encountered with cerebral piety.  Give me those Chicago brass anytime!!

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I just had my first listen to this Bruckner 8th, which I think is Boulez's only commercial Bruckner recording:



So far, I think this is the best fast and dramatic version of the 8th I've ever heard. It has the same virtues as the Barenboim/BPO that I like, but Boulez doesn't rush the coda the way Barenboim does, and the sound is generally better than the rather airless sonics DB gets.

In particular, the tempo relationships, particularly in the sprawling last two mvts., are perfectly judged here. Thus, there's really no sense of "sprawl" at all - everything fits together just like it should. Makes me wish Boulez had done more Bruckner!

[brewski]

I just had my first listen to this Bruckner 8th, which I think is Boulez's only commercial Bruckner recording:



So far, I think this is the best fast and dramatic version of the 8th I've ever heard. It has the same virtues as the Barenboim/BPO that I like, but Boulez doesn't rush the coda the way Barenboim does, and the sound is generally better than the rather airless sonics DB gets.

In particular, the tempo relationships, particularly in the sprawling last two mvts., are perfectly judged here. Thus, there's really no sense of "sprawl" at all - everything fits together just like it should. Makes me wish Boulez had done more Bruckner!

That is one of my favorites, too. I first heard it at the old Tower Records store near Lincoln Center, without knowing who was conducting, and was so impressed that I stuck around browsing until the end. It really is a great performance. There's probably been something written about how and why Boulez chose to do this particular piece, because it does seem off his usual beat. Never mind: I'm just grateful to have it.

Haven't heard it in a few years; perhaps I'll give it a listen soon.

-Bruce