Marc Bridle's Bruckner Review
Posted by dieter barkhoff on October 18, 2022, 7:58 am
Kudos for that great review of Asahina's Bruckner 9, with all of its relevant and stimulating side journeys. What lit my imagination the most is the wonderful description of Furtwangler's sensational recording. It reminded me of an afternoon I spent comparing my 9 recordings of this great work in 1990. It was late spring, the afternoon sun streaming through a huge open window. I plowed away, 2 Jochums, Karajan, von Matacic, Haitink, Schuricht, Mravinsky, Furtwangler and Giulini. Haitink, Matacic and Schuricht were ho hummers, Giulini was shall we say smooth, but interesting, Karajan was Karajan and I liked it - it was my first Bruckner 9 - the Jochums were stupendous. Then along came Mr Wilhelm, or, the Mighty Bill, and that was that. I left Mravinsky till last. I was horrified at how sloppy and 'wrong' it was. So, even through a turgid vinyl pressing, Furtwangler's unique genius blazed into the glorious sunshine of my room: thanks be to Anton Bruckner!!!
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