Glorious Bruckner, spectacular sound
This is a bluray reissue of the original 2011 dvd release which garnered much praise when it came out. I have not seen that dvd, but this new bluray is special indeed!
It is no secret that Franz Welser-Most has his own special way with Bruckner. This is the original complete Nowak (1887) version of the 8th. Symphony, taking all of 90 minutes, The fact that Welser-Most can keep its pulse intact for the whole duration, while not ignoring the nuances of a sensitive interpretation, is no mean feat, and this performance never loses its impetus.The Clevelanders are on top of their game. It's hard to single out any section - they're all brilliant in this music.
The glorious Adagio is 30 minutes of pure beauty - just exquisite. The opening fanfare of brass and timpani in the finale will make your hair stand on end, and it doesn't seem anticlimactic through the rest of the movement. The first allegro is well paced and the scherzo (not one of Bruckner's strongest, in my...
Scaling the Heights
For twenty years I have admired Franz Welser-Möst (has an umlaut) as a Brucknerian. He was born in Linz, the hometown of Bruckner, and Bruckner's musical vocabulary is like mother's milk to him. Back then, when he still looked like a child but was thirty years of age, his Brucknerian instincts were veiled behind a natural reserve. He let just enough out to achieve the desired results and no more. When the acoustics rang, when the reverb died down, Franz was back in his shell again, not to come out again until there was another climactic arpeggio. Maybe working in America has been good for him, because it has given him permission to express what he feels. Clearly his presence has been good for the American orchestra, too.
During and after the Second World War, emigré; conductors built up the orchestras of the USA to the highest international standards, not just in the big venues of Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Boston and New York, but also in places...
A spectacular entry in what is becoming a significant series
Welser-Most has been supported by a major Upper Austrian bank for over 25 years now as a cultural envoy. This level of support suggests that Welser-Most has something special to offer in terms of Austrian music especially. Those who know his recent Summer Night's Gala or the 2011 New Year's Day concert with the VPO will also be aware that he can produce very lively responses from his orchestra too.
This recording is a performance of the original version of this symphony and is given a performance of considerable splendour. The description of 'Cathedrals in sound' is easy to comprehend here. There are several later versions of the symphony which may be more familiar but all compromise Bruckner's original concept as recorded here and which Welser-Most now believes to be the best.
I have grown to like this edition and interpretation very much indeed over several viewings. I would view Welser-Most's performance as typically having a very clear long-term view of...
Click to Editorial Reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment