Customer Reviews

Bruckner: Symphony No. 4

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you have ears to hear, Celibidache will convince you in the last few minutes of his performance that this is the greatest music that anyone ever wrote. There have been many fine recordings of this score: Bruno Walter and the Columbia Symphony are warm and sympathetic, Otto Klemperer and the Philharmonia are lapidary. Get to know both before you listen to this one. Then it will change your life. The brilliant English symphonist and musicologist Robert Simpson rewrote his book, *The Essence of Bruckner,* after hearing Celibidache's interpretation of this work. Listen with a little experience under your belt and then you will hear why. So much is so beautiful and so understanding in this interpretation that one hates to emphasize a single passage, at the expense of so many others--but earlier reviewers are right to single out Celibidache's treatment of the final coda. He brings out the relentless tread of the middle strings as nobody ever has before. (Only Klemperer even seems to have noticed this seemingly minor detail.) And that makes all the difference. The majesty and inevitability of Celibidache's conclusion leaves all others in the shade. The glory of heaven opens before you. As it never will again.

I had heard about Celibidache's notoriety for slowing down major works so I was not too sure what to expect. I listened to his recording of the Bruckner 8 in the same series but felt it did go on too long. However I really do feel his approach works tremendously well here. He takes this most immediately appealing of Bruckner's symphonies and makes it into something very spiritual and extra special. It is ironic that a conductor who lived and conducted through the art of Zen should become a champion of a symphonist who was a devout Catholic!

Celibidache can infuriate or he can make you feel extremely exalted. He is at his best in the Bruckner Symphonies 4, 6 and 9. I am not too excited by Bruckner's symphonies #5, 7 and 8 and Celibidache's interpretations have not swayed me (although I like the 5th and 8th a little more each time I listen to them. The very popular 7th still escapes me). It can be hard to fathom his take on Bruckner after listening to other recordings with the "right tempo". But you do need to listen to this interprtation of the 4th. It is slow but never ponderous. It allows the wonders of Bruckner's writing to shine forth and for me personally, I now know that he was a much better symphonist than I had realized. Now the problem is that all other recordings seem way too fast and uninvolving.

The beautiful opening horn theme captures the imagination immediately when taken at a at a slower tempo. Although Bruckner subtitled the work "Romantic" with half-hearted descriptions for each movement, I do envision the citadel at dawn with knights leading forth etc. I am especially captivated by the return of the opening theme later in the movement but accompanied by the delicate flutes. Ah, Sheer Beauty!

He also emphasizes the Shubertian grace and quality of the wonderful second movement where the strings shine and the brass cilmaxes, although evident are not overbearing. This is the "quiet Bruckner". It is music with a slight spring in its step and is not to be taken too slow. The tempo marking is "quasi-allegretto" after all.

The third movement is arguably Bruckner's most famous music and Celibidache's tempo is not much slower than other conductors. In fact he made me appreciate the quieter passages of the movement even more. Great horn call and a great trio which is ninety seconds of pure Bruckner joy!

THE FINALE AND ITS CODA: Oh Boy! This will be hard to describe in words as I am unable to convey exactly what my feelings are when I hear this music. The last movement of the 4th symphony has often been criticised as not being of the high standard of the first three movements. It is true that it was totally revised by Bruckner yet I did feel the criticisms were justified until I heard this recording. Now I think it is probably one of the most brilliant of all Bruckner's last movements, as great as the finale of #5 (I am still figuring out the finale of #8, so bear with me!).

By slowing the movement Celibidache comes closest to what Bruckner might have envisioned. It makes for a complete symphony rather than a symphony of three movements with a finale tacked on. Sure, 27 minutes of music may seem like an endurance but amazingly the slower it is, the more power and beauty shines forth. Celibidache has taken this finale which seemed to disappoint and transformed it into a deeply spiritual and ultimately exalting experience. Is it classically correct? Does it arrive at the home key by the end? Does it answer all the questions and uncertainties of the first three movements? Hell I don't know. All I can say is it moves me. Music is a very personal experience and for me, this is the most rewarding finale of all the symphonies played today.

The most notable talking point in this performance is the end of the last movement and the slow tempo. Celibidache slowed the music down in an extreme way and found hidden wonders like the muted horns over the two note string motif played staccato by the violins instead of the flowing manner found in nearly all other recordings I have heard. How did other conductors miss this???

The coda starts at 20:04 minutes and continues to the end. "Heavenly", "impassioned", "majestic", "soaring", "spiritual", "transcendant" are all fitting terms to describe it. I am not sure what else "Celi" did to this music but the glorious, moving coda affected me deeply. It will always have the power to take me somewhere very spiritual and calming. This is without a doubt, some of the most serenely beautiful seven and a half minutes of music I have ever heard and will probably ever hear in my life. Maybe I was was listening to various interpretations of this symphomy for the wrong reasons; best orchestra, best sound quality, best musicianship etc. Then I listened to this performance and its revolutionary interpretation of the finale and coda and I found it deeply profound and spiritual as if it came from the Heavens. Sorry for the over the top description but it does seem to me now like it is some of the greatest music ever written by any human being.

I went back to all the other recordings and realized the coda in other recordings was way too smooth and too fast. I now feel that all other recordings I own of the Bruckner 4 do not matter to me anymore which is a shame as i have some great cds of this symphony. But for me this is the only one I want to listen to. No other conductor I have listened to can match it.

1. Bewegt, nicht zu schnell 21.56

2. Andante quasi allegretto 17.35

3. Scherzo. Bewegt-Trio... 11.04

4. Finale. Bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell 27.53

This live broadcast approximates the spellbinding performance I heard these forces deliver in 1987. Balances search every coloristic and melodic fragment; transitions become suspended in time, and the final coda achieves truly visionary power with a fully unconventional reading of Bruckner's relentless rhythmic pattern. It does seem slow and mannered at times without the added tension of a live event. But no devotee of this work should miss this experience.

It is slow. It is idiosyncratic. It is also very beautiful. I agree with the other reveiwer's high opinion of the finale. Celibidache keeps the tempo slow, the brass quiet, the fiddlers playing sul ponticello allowing the listener to hear the terrible beauty of that incessant two-note violin figure as it builds to the finale. It is easy to wallow in the bombast of this piece but let this recording open your ears to all the details.

Celibidache was a conductor who truly loved and understood Bruckner's compositions, and this wonderful recording is a perfect example of both Celibidache and Bruckners' genius. Celibidache knows how to bring the best out of the Munich Philharmonic. You can hear the flowing counterpoint, and each section of the orchestra seems to have a marked role which is heard most clearly. The brass and string section are absolutely marvelous on this recording. I think Celibidache really knew what a Bruckner string section should sound like. Words cannot describe the 4th symphony. All I can say is grab this recording as it is a perfect illustration of the greatness of Bruckner's music and the superb ability of Celibidache.

EMI's cover photo for this Bruckner Fourth depicts a detail from a famous Zen garden in Kyoto, giving us a hint how we should approach Celibidache's Bruckner: as a meditation on the infinite. A famsouly slow condcutor who based his aproach on esoteric writings from his guru (among other mystical sources), Celi was undoubtedly spiritual in his intentions. But aren't all great musicians? The previous Amazon reviewers all seem to be die-hard fans, but what will new listeners experience?

The string tremolos and horn calls that begin the first movement are painfully slowed down to a crawl, but Celi's sense of pace and drama isn't slack: it's just moving to a different drummer. Compare his timings with Karajan's acclaimed Fourth from 1970, also on EMI:

Celibidache Karajan

1st mvt. 21:56 20:48

2nd mvt. 17:35 15:38

3rd mvt. 11:04 10:41

4th mvt. 27:53 23:05

In the first and third movements Celi's tempos are not outrageously slow, coming within hailing distance of Karajan's, but be prepared for a completely different feeling: Celi is building architecture in broad arches, and when the opportunity comes to inject contrast with a faster passage, he doesn't take it. He wants us to remain mesmerized, and if you are on his wavelength, you will be. Orchestral execution is committed and passionate; the radio broadcast sonics are excellent.

The only real drawback for me is that even with a fairly energetic Scherzo, there's not much variance in mood, tone, and pacing. You have to surrender to a 'spiritual' atmosphere that's unrelenting. Some days I'm not willing to do that, but when the stars are aligned, Celibidache's Bruckner can be as inspiring as his devoted fans insist it is.

Due to some idiosyncracies, this wouldn't be my reference recording of Bruckner's 4th if I were looking for interpretation faithful to the letter of score, but it is still one I wouldn't want to live without. The soundscapes Celibidache creates are like nothing else on disc. A truly stunning control of color and timbre allows phrases to shine and Bruckner's grand architecture to become apparent in what is a rare spiritual moment captured on disc.

The Zen symbol on the cover of this (and all releases in this cycle) suggests something about the conductor's approach to interpretation: I imagine he spent hours meditating over a score before taking it to rehearsal -- otherwise, how would he be so uncanny in his ability to bring out every shred of majesty? The most striking thing about this remarkable conductor is that he often uses tempi far slower than what most people are accustomed to hearing. If you read the liner notes you'll discover a pragmatic purpose for this: The richer and more complex a piece of music is, the slower it needs to be played, so the listener may discern the layering of texture and counterpoint. Here I offer a less pragmatic reason: Bruckner's music is as much about spiritual transcendance as anything else, and the slower tempi bring about the resonance of a kind of emotional determinism. Hence, the Zen. Really, it's a good thing we have a conductor who can bring this out, because Bruckner is, after all, so widely misunderstood. (Easy to do, if you try to resolve his music in terms of his well-known Faith, or his idolization of Richard Wagner!) This interpretation of the fourth symphony is noteworthy for Celibidache's spectacular take of the finale's coda: Yes, it's slow. But if you listen closely, you'll notice that he has the violins playing staccato, as opposed to tremolo. The result is nothing short of spectacular. As the tension gathers, we realize that the staccato takes on a persistent rhythm, like the drum beats of a coxwain, and thus becomes the driving force behind a grand crescendo. Every note is perfect. With climax comes transcendence, but not necessarily redemption. Forget the man's Faith -- this music may be the most existential ever written, and for this reason this coda, interpreted in this manner, may be the most powerful in all of music.

After owning a number of well known 4ths I came upon this by accident. I did not know Celibidache. I should have. For you who know Bruckner and are familiar with his works, this performance will come as a revalation. It is slow. It has a relentless driving force. It has the spirit of Bruckner that few can communicate, it has the power and inner detail that the slow tempi allow. Do not think that there is a moment of boredom, there is not. Sound is excellent. I cannot get it out of my head. Especially the driving coda of the last movement.

You may be wondering why you should pay upwards of forty dollars for a single CD, historic value notwithstanding. The answer is simply that this is the definitive recorded performance of the Bruckner Fourth, oustripping in depth of insight and beauty of orchestral response every contender of which I am aware from Furtwängler to Karajan and beyond. Indeed this may be the greatest Bruckner performance ever.

Hyperbole? One might think so; but listen past Celibidache's seemingly glacial tempos and you will find little of the post-Wagnerian rhetoric that all too often seems to weigh down this score; instead, you will hear a nobility of utterance, a dignity, and a contemplative rapture rarely caught on records or in the concert hall. Celi's ear for balances and textures is quite amazing; every important sonic event is given its place in the whole. Yet is is precisely that whole of which Celi has an almost super-human grasp--a kind of "God's-eye view" of the music-- so that the last note is prefigured in the very first, and the first in the last, to form a kind of eternal return. One can imagine the performance continuing on forever as a hallowed cycle of recurrence, a beatific liturgy.

No Bruckner interpreter cared less about sensational effects or crashing climaxes than Celibidache. He treats even the most dramatic moments with a remarkable sensitivity, even gentleness, so that when the wave reaches its crest, and breaks, there is not a hint of violent outburst--only a sense of engulfing fulfillment. So, for instance, harken to the exquisitely prepared modulation with which the coda of the final movement hoists the listener into the empyrian and you will perceive the unique stature of this performance.

Even if you are neither a Celibidache fan nor a Brucknerian you must hear this performance. It is absolutely unique in the annals of recorded symphonic literature. Fortunately, it is very well played and recorded--unlike many "historic" performances (cf. Furtwängler's account of this work). If you can't justify the high cost of purchase, borrow this CD from a public library or friend. You owe it to yourself to acquaint yourself with this remarkable performance.

NOTE: Since I wrote this review, the price for this disc has come down considerably. At this much lower cost, this magnificent version of the Bruckner Fourth is even more of a mandatory acquisition for collectors.