Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 (with Excerpts from the Rehearsals) [Hybrid SACD] [Hybrid SACD - DSD]

Anton Bruckner (Composer), Nikolaus Harnoncourt (Conductor), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt
• Composer: Anton Bruckner
• Audio CD (March 8, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B0006PV58U
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #151,757 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Harnoncourt's Bruckner's 5th, December 30, 2005

By 

N. Hopkins "NedHopkins" (Stockton, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 (with Excerpts from the Rehearsals) [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

Over the past half century I've owned upwards of three dozen recordings (on LP, tape, and CD) of the Bruckner 5th -- every one, in fact, I could lay my hands on.

Harnoncourt's is -- to my great surprise -- far-and-away the best. The tempi are perfect; the dyamics are perfect; the playing, especially in the strings, is perfect.

Among many other highlights of this recording: the beautifully paced chorale in the 2d movement, the sensible contrast between the scherzo and trio sections in the 3d movement, the stately pacing of the fugue in the 4th.

Knowing Harnoncourt mostly from his recordings of the complete Bach cantatas (alternating with Gustav Leonhardt), I was much impressed by his recording of Bruckner's 9th. It is very good. But his recording of the 5th exceeds anything he has done outside Bach.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Personal expression triumphs, October 20, 2006

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 (with Excerpts from the Rehearsals) [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

The Fifth is probably the least known of Bruckner's symphonies and certianly the hardest to hold together. Its sprawling structure too easily breaks down into disjointed segments, all the more when you consider how often he repeats the same material or uses the same devices. It's a rare conductor who can make the work sound completely coherent and convincing. Harnoncourt does so superbly. He approaches every section with his own expressive ideas, shifting tempos, massaging the phrase, and applying generous rubato. These personal touches heighten dramatic contrast, which would seem on the surface to be jsut the thing a disjointed symphony doesn't need.

But for works of high Romanticism like Bruckner's symphonies, strong personal expression is in fact authentic. By gripping us emotionally and keeping us on the edge of our seats, Harnoncort does what Bruckner wants. Add to this the magnificent Vienna Phil., the premiere Bruckner orchestra in the world, and you have a study in perfect style. RCA's hybrid SACD sounds very fine through a regular stereo system, but be aware that the dynamic range is huge, and it takes patience to accommodate music that whispers one moment and thunders the next.

In sum, this is a great addition to Harnoncourt's Bruckner discography, the most impressive since the era of Karajan.

18 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars First Thoughts..., March 8, 2005

By 

Iyer (Bethesda, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 (with Excerpts from the Rehearsals) [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

Disclaimer: I have just completed listening to this rendition. I will have to listen to this several more times to fully understand what Harnoncourt is trying to do, but am writing this "First Thoughts" posting in the hope that it will give prospective buyers some preliminary guidelines.

Not surprisingly, Harnoncourt has taken the "Text" to the cleaners and has completely rethought the partitur with the collaboration of Benjamin Gunnar-Cohrs. One fascinating example of this is the revelation of the relevance of Mozart's contrapuntal technique in his Requiem on Bruckner's composing method. The endlessly rewarding rehearsal CD that comes with the actual performance (or "performances", since this is the usual cut and paste job done over several live recordings) explicates this in some detail.

There are several new and wonderful things that Harnoncourt has brought out in this the most structurally perfect Bruckner symphony. I will post some musings on how they work after repeated listenings. But my overall impression is that, in the end, (and please bear mind that this is a first listen on my part) Harnoncourt has done the work of a master restorer (and I mean that as the highest praise) in revealing the inner workings of this great score, but has somehow fallen short of illuminating the canvas as a whole.

It is too early to compare this rendition with the acknowledgedly great recordings of Horenstein, Wand (NDR), and Sinopoli, but this is a CD that you should give very serious consideration. I feel that it is a rendition that will reveal its truths slowly but surely.

The playing of the VPO is, despite an uncharacteristic horn flub in the last movement and the usual over-bright trumpets, generally first-rate, with some magical moments in pianissimo playing that only this orchestra can summon.

Happy listening!