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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!!!
Thanks Dieter. The side journeys for this Asahina review save me ever having to write them again when I write other ones by this conductor, which I definitely will be doing.
I share your deep love for the Furtwängler. Now it's in something approximating to very decent and revealing sound the performance has taken on new significance. In a way, the Furtwängler performance is an extremely poetic performance and I often think it needs writing about in a way that reflects that. Some might like the way I describe it; others not. It's just a matter of musical and critical taste.
I recently listened to the new Fischer/Budapest Bruckner 9 and thought it dry and parched of any sense of emotion. A bleak and entirely colourless performance. Fischer's B9 is really fast in places, and swallows you up along the way but for the wrong reasons. I didn't find many redeeming qualities in it. The antithesis of furtwängler.
Previous Message
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!!!
I am relieved to read your opinion of that new Bruckner 9 from Fishcher/Budapest, Marc, as my upcoming review says exactly that - and a certain YouTube guru pronounced it to be superlative. I do so agree with you both about Furtwängler, too, and included his 1944 recording in my "Bruckner Shortlist" of recommendations.
Previous Message
Thanks Dieter. The side journeys for this Asahina review save me ever having to write them again when I write other ones by this conductor, which I definitely will be doing.
I share your deep love for the Furtwängler. Now it's in something approximating to very decent and revealing sound the performance has taken on new significance. In a way, the Furtwängler performance is an extremely poetic performance and I often think it needs writing about in a way that reflects that. Some might like the way I describe it; others not. It's just a matter of musical and critical taste.
I recently listened to the new Fischer/Budapest Bruckner 9 and thought it dry and parched of any sense of emotion. A bleak and entirely colourless performance. Fischer's B9 is really fast in places, and swallows you up along the way but for the wrong reasons. I didn't find many redeeming qualities in it. The antithesis of furtwängler.
Previous Message
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!!!
If I had been listening to that Fischer B9 blind I'd never have guessed it was the Budapest orchestra. I can see an attraction to stripping back the warmth of tone in this symphony given that it's Bruckner's most atonal symphonic utterance but Fischer goes too far. It's like he's thrown acid over the score to get rid of any trace of Bruckner. It's a very Hans Swarowsky performance in a way.
I had considered reviewing it but finding nothing good to say about a performance I find is even more time consuming! I'll look forward to your review Ralph.
Previous Message
I am relieved to read your opinion of that new Bruckner 9 from Fishcher/Budapest, Marc, as my upcoming review says exactly that - and a certain YouTube guru pronounced it to be superlative. I do so agree with you both about Furtwängler, too, and included his 1944 recording in my "Bruckner Shortlist" of recommendations.
Previous Message
Thanks Dieter. The side journeys for this Asahina review save me ever having to write them again when I write other ones by this conductor, which I definitely will be doing.
I share your deep love for the Furtwängler. Now it's in something approximating to very decent and revealing sound the performance has taken on new significance. In a way, the Furtwängler performance is an extremely poetic performance and I often think it needs writing about in a way that reflects that. Some might like the way I describe it; others not. It's just a matter of musical and critical taste.
I recently listened to the new Fischer/Budapest Bruckner 9 and thought it dry and parched of any sense of emotion. A bleak and entirely colourless performance. Fischer's B9 is really fast in places, and swallows you up along the way but for the wrong reasons. I didn't find many redeeming qualities in it. The antithesis of furtwängler.
Previous Message
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!!!