Customer Reviews

Bruckner: Symphonies No. 8 / Symphonies No.9

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I reviewed Karl Bohm's performance with the Vienna Philharmonic in Bruckner's Fourth Symphony, I have indicated that the conductor is the under-rated Bruckner interpreter. My position remains somewhat the same, but another conductor must be added, Jascha Horenstein.

Horenstein is generally underrated and overshadowed as among the giants of modern conductors as we speak and there's a tendency to forget his immense contributions in bringing works of Bruckner, Mahler, and even Nielsen into the realm of recognition and appreciation (not discounting other conductors who played this important, enterprising role). What is equally appealing is that Horenstein forced the emotions out of his players (especially of British orchestras known for their overly orthodox and subdued playing) and allowed the passion and emotionism to take over, while not losing control in the slightest.

Horenstein's 1970 live performance of Bruckner's Ninth Symphony with the BBC Symphony Orchestra was done with passion and admiration of the work & of Bruckner. Although Vienna's love for Bruckner and his works is always made apparent by the Vienna Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony is not far behind in showing that feeling through its' performance. The reading of Horenstein is very close to Guilini's with the Vienna Philharmonic: spacious and grandeur yet refined, vivid yet spiritual. What they also have in common is authority and a real sense of what Bruckner was about, not what he was supposed to be (Jochum, Wand, Karajan, Solti, Barenboim, and Schurict should also be credited in representing Bruckner for the sake of his art).

The same comments could be said regarding Horenstein's 1970 performance of Bruckner's Eighth Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra (also live). Like Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic, Horenstein dragged the emotionism out from his players. The performance does not have much of the majesty of Wand and the North German Radio Symphony or the transparency of Tennstedt and the London Philharmonic, but is compelling nevertheless. However, like the performance of Karajan, Horenstein's tend to be slightly imbalance in some passages, with the timpani dominating the brass and the brass slightly overshadowing the strings, especially in the finale. Also, there are few cracked notes here and there by the brass.

Despite the slight weaknesses due to otherwise passionate and convincing performances, Horenstein has proved (as least to me) to be among the leading interpreters of Bruckner's works. Unfortunately, much of Horenstein's recordings have either been deleted or not re-issued (like his recording of Nielsen's Fifth Symphony). However, his recordings of Bruckner and Mahler music, especially, are available and are worthy of investment and enjoyment. The 2-compact discs set is a gem stone for any Brucknerites (or any music lovers) and the 20-bit CD re-issue is well done with a devoid of "shallowness." What we have instead is the recording of fullness and life. The applause at the end of these performances made me want to applaud as well.

Recommendable!!!

I intend to relate here to the performance of the 8th symphony only. This really is a magnificent rendering of Bruckner's monumental masterpiece. I have already commented on Horenstein's spacial way with Bruckner (the performance of the 5th with the BBC Symphony). This performance with the LSO surpasses that one.

You will find an excellent review of this performance by Tony Duggan at www.musicweb.force9.co.uk. I will add a few remarks:

1. This is a performance not to be heard regularly( not that you can listen to Bruckner's 8th too regularly).It is at the opposite pole of Furtwangler/Jochum. Here, Horenstein "digs right into the guts" emphasizing from the beginning the darker side of the work. One must be prepared intellectually, psychologically (and spiritually..?)

2. The 1st movement is treated as an equal and not (as I feel with others) as a mere introduction and preparation for the following movements. It is expansive, heroic and the final climax is superb.

3. The great scherzo (in my view Bruckner's greatest even more than the 9th) must be weighty and "pounding" and Horenstein achieves this without losing momentum. The trio is superb.

4. The adagio is spiritual without too much "pathos"

5. The finale is a revelation and also debatable. I have always loved this movement and consider it maybe Bruckner's greatest achievement.The unstoppable flow of musical logic,ideas and variations from start to end culminating in the final climax is unforgettable.Horenstein slows things down and deals specifically with each idea, reminding us that all is one context, this magnificent movement does not stand alone, it is part of an eather greater idea i.e. the whole of the symphany itself. Thus when the final climax but one (The return of the theme from the 1st movement) appears it is of no surprise (of course seasoned Brucknerians will never be surprised at this phenomenon).

6. The Final Coda-MAGNIFICENT.By maintaining the slow tempo all the might is drawn out.One has the feeling that all is solved and that this is the proper culmination of almost 90 minutes of unearthly experience. Most listeners will prefer a more conventional and swifter finale and coda,however as stated above this is not a version to be heard regularly. I'm sure that the most committed listener will be enthralled and will join in the cheering of the audience at the end.Even the audible coughing did not spoil my enjoyment.

7. The use of the timpani is also superb.

As almost always with Horenstein- enthusiastically recommended to seasoned listeners but not to novices.

Forget all what you know about Bruckner's 8th great symphony.
All what can be said or compared to other great performances is irrelevant and unjust.
What you will hear in this recording, is an out of the world experience, a meteor from the heavens hitting you with such force, that your spirit transcends to other realms, out of reality and out of the imaginable.
I will not go into details of techniques and how the orchestra was playing, and which passages were dealt with in such or such way. I only want to emphasis on where this GREAT HORENSTEIN takes you. He just sweeps you with every note, every phrase, every bar. every note is a living entity in itself. every tone every sound is breathing with undiscribable emotion and life.
I say again, all other conductors from whom i have heard this work ( Furtwangler, Jochum, Celibidache, Karajan, Bohm, Barbirolli ... i think those are enough !)all have unique and outstanding performances. But with HORENSTEIN, it is just above comparison, it is a BRUCKNORENSTEIN symphony !!!! as simple as that.
The first time i heard it ( it is not recommendable to hear this MIRACLE often !!! ), as the final EARTH SHATTERING coda cracked the Stratosphere, i just jumped out of my place and bursted in tears and applause, just to notice that all of Royal Albert Hall was going crazy applauding their souls out !!!!! I thought that i was there, among the mesmerized audience of 1970, joining in the grand ovation. i would trade my life just to go into time and actually be there, live those UNREPETABLE moments of history, because as much as the recording on this CD is impeccable and outstandingly natural and grand, the actual live concert will always sound totally different and better.
One could not finish talking about this GREAT musical spirit of HORENSTEIN. but unfortunately, we are limited by a number of characters, so others can write as well !!
The 9th is outstandingly well too, but the 8th has litteraly EATEN the CD... just hear the 9th at a very seperate occasion, maybe months latter, or before !!! a great 9th symphony among other great ones.

Thank you for taking a few minutes to read my comments.

Horenstein gave us one of his most inspired performances along his brilliant career .
Both recordings are admirable . The sense of musicality and the cosmical breath that you can feel after listen them are loaded of so level of honesty , purity and commitment that is hard for us to get some other versions that match with these .
The London Symphony was an orchestra that had no any problem in adapting to the director temperament . Think in Solti style , De Sabata , Adrian Boult , Barbirolli , De Sabata and so others batoon giants who had the inmense honor and pleasure of conducting it .
That easiness became in its main strength , and allowed Horenstein triumph with such apotheosis level.
The Eight is sublime , the last movement filled of interpretative force and histamina , invades you all the way . The sforzandos are first rate .
The Ninth is performed with introspective magnetism . Horenstein escapes to another dimension and the orchetsra flies with him .
This is a historical recording. Do not doubt for a second and acquire this gem.

Other contributors have discussed characteristics of Horenstein's conducting, and these two performances in particular. To them I should like to add a few supplemental thoughts.

Bruckner has been called "The Bach of the nineteenth century," and "God's 'thank-you note' to humanity." That said, Horenstein was God's 'Thank-you note' to Bruckner (and Mahler). There are recorded performances of the Bruckner ninth that are like Maxfield Parish portraits of nature. Horenstein's ninth is nature itself - perfectly befitting Bruckner's 'farewell to life' (and which, after all, he dedicated to God).

In the Bruckner eighth ("The Apocalyptic"), Horenstein here achieves a virtually perfect melding of the eternal, the heroic and the tragic. (As a complement to this performance, Horenstein's only recording of the Robert Haas edition, I call to your attention the monaural recording [in decent sound] of the Leopold Nowak edition, on the Vox Legends label. As great as the present recording is, there I find the four timpani blows at the beginning of the finale to be even more compelling, with just the slightest retard between the third and fourth hammer blows adding to the drama.)

Horenstein's Bruckner fifth has also been mentioned here. As an aside, I should like to add that no performance I have heard equals, let alone surpasses, it. (An "air check" of a live broadcast performance from the Royal Albert Hall in stereo, one can just imagine what Michael Dutton or Ward Marston could do with the recording - particularly in the a few instances where the music's quietude and silence are broken by "audience participation".)

Wilhelm Furtwangler did not only his assistant conductor, but the musical world a very great service by packing Horenstein off to England soon after Germany began its descent into madness in 1933. That Horenstein never acquired an orchestra of his own is unfortunate; the recorded legacy he left the world, however, is truly a gift from the gods.

There are a couple of hopelessly lost reviewers here, so I contribute my unstinting admiration for this (I believe) greatest of Bruckner 8s.

I make 4 points.

First, it's a live recording and not to be compared with a studio recording. That said (and despite a bleat from someone out there), the sound is splendid, thrilling even. The LSO players (especially the brass) crown themselves with glory and the sheer excitement of this 1970 concert is irresistible. It adds nothing to a review to criticize 'cracked notes' in the brass. These are human beings, not machines.

Second, the extraordinary transparency of the balances between instrumental voices is stupendous. There is a constant revelation of flute, oboe, brass and string inner voices and counterpoint that make one realizes anew that Bruckner's contrapuntal skills were peerless, and always pointed toward profound meaning and expressivity.

Third, Horenstein's super clear weighting of chords is unparalleled by other conductors despite studio taping with the magic of twiddling balance knobs. What might seem to be simply expressive, thick chords are revealed as very complex harmonies that push harmonic boundaries. Multiple brass chordings are so poised in their voicing that the chord itself is almost diagrammable (without score). The analytical presentation of the notes is always in the service of the meaning of this work, never an x-ray in the fashion of (say) Rattle.

Fourth, the shape of the symphony is clearly presented as cumulative, and as others have stated, each movement is not only impressive free-standing, but relates in sequence to the symphony as creative entity. Two telling details: the pause between the slow and final movements is significant; and the fourth movement begins at a forte level which is appropriate to the direction of the symphony. Most merely good conductors start the beginning just as if they were conducting Holst's 'Mars'. Lucky, indeed, to have been at the concert where the normally restrained audience does let Horenstein put down his baton before the explosive volley of shouts and applause begins.

I've heard multiple Bruckner symphonies conducted in concert, over the past decade or so, by Barenboim, Sinopoli, Welser-Moest, Rattle, Salonen, Blomstedt. None came close to the overwhelming greatness of this performance (although Blomstedt's 8 was superb), and I have 8 or 9 recordings (including those of the usual suspects such as Celi, Wand, Giulini, etc). This is greater than any of the other 8s I have heard, and to think it was live and recorded for posterity makes me feel very fortunate.

Bottom line, if you were never convinced that this is the greatest symphony of the 19th century, you may be persuaded now. Certainly the symphony simply dwarfs its peers.

Other reviewers have discussed the strengths and weaknesses of Horenstein's LSO-reading of the Bruckner 8 in detail and with more technical finesse than I can muster. I will just add that to me the final 5 minutes of the final movement is nothing less than the most exiting 5 minutes in the recorded oeuvre of Bruckner. Play it loud! It will carry you away.

Wow...What a disappointment to hear these wonderful interpretations of these 2 great symphonies in such terrible recorded sound.
I suggest Karajan/Vienna for a sublime 8th...I cannot even beieve that this is the LSO and BBC symphony...I love Horenstein...but this is nothing special...sorry to say.
If you love the 5th symphony, I highly highly recommend Thielemann with the Munich Philharmonic...unbelievable sound and gorgeous interpretation that finally makes sense of this symphony for me.

These live performances are in decent radio sound, although fairly wiry and thin by studio standards. Horenstein is a cult conductor, but without the aura of greatness imposed from outside, I didn't hear anything really special in these performances. The BBC forces are not remotely up to the Vienna Phil or Berlin Phil technically, so the Ninth Sym. comes off as pretty scrappy and without depth of Bruckner style. The Eighth is better (not that the LSO sounds great, just good), yet again I hear a decent performance in the "inward" German tradition, but if you set the most spiritual movement, the Adagio, against readings by Giulini, Boulez, Harnoncourt, and Karajan (I own four of the latter), what you hear from HOrenstein is certainly very good but by no means inspired.