Customer Reviews

Bruckner: Symphony No. 4

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The recordings by Boehm, Jochum (Berlin or Dresden), von Karajan (Berlin on EMI), Sawallisch/Philedelphia, Tintner, and Wand are probably the elite recordings of this music. One could not go wrong with any one of them as the sole representative of this symphony. Considering the different versions available, that says a lot, though the differences between the Haas and Nowak editions are slight. Boehm (and Walter/CBS, also worth noting)gives a wonderfully wrought account of the Nowak edition, played with strength and obvious affection by the Vienna Philharmonic, which has a noble tradition of making up for its bad treatment of Bruckner until late in his life. The sound is rich and richly detailed. Criticism to the contrary is not born out by the sound of this disc.

The cymbol crash in the 4th movt. (Jochum recordings)is a holdover from the Loewe edition of the score, one of many revisions of several symphonies Bruckner's pupils urged on him after Levi rejected the 8th of 1887. That revised version is available in recordings by Furtwangler, Knappertsbusch, von Matacic and Steinberg. There are other touches of the cymbol, pp, in the coda of the 4th movt., which is heavily cut, as is the scherzo. The dynamics are also sandpapered, trombone parts in the 1st movt. are slurred in place of the original marcato chords, etc. The version sheds light on the sound world of his friends and admirers who hoped to make Bruckner more accessable.

Tintner has the advantgage of a low price, excellent digital sound, and a dedicated orchestra; Boehm has excellent analog sound and the Vienna Philharmonic. Tinter uses Haas's edition that replaced clarinet with oboe in the scherzo's trio section among other, minor details of orchestration.

In Boehm's case -- in all cases here -- the problem of editions dissappears in the quality and dedication of the performance.

I won't repeat the other reviewers that have correctly graded this as one of the best Bruckner 4ths in history. This recording has been considered de rigeur for Bruckner 4 for 30 years and nothing out there today changes that opinion. In its most recent Bruckner overview, American Record Guide graded Bohm No. 1 in both Symphonies 3 & 4, noting his "unforced naturalness". Gramophone has recommended this recording above all other Bruckner 4's since its release. This recording continues to be the most Viennese sounding Bruckner "Romantic" symphony available. Its sense of inevitability is all-encompassing. While this version is outstanding, if you shop in England you can buy it in a two-CD set mated with Bohm's even more outstanding version of Bruckner's Symphony 3, which is sometimes called his "Wagner" symphony because of its use of repeated themes in the brass. I wouldn't want to be without this two-CD set at my house. If you love Bruckner, you shouldn't either.

I must agree with the previous reviewer that Karl Bohm, a great Austrian conductor, was (and still is) the underrated interpreter of Bruckner's music. It is good that London Decca is re-issuing Bohm's recordings of the Bruckner symphonies, although it must be said that the re-issue of Bruckner's Third Symphony under Bohm is not available other than in Great Britain and this same distribution problem with the further releases of the same artists may persist.

Bohm's performance with the Vienna Philharmonic is generally majestic & glowing, with virtually every instruments having their voices of their own. Bohm's approach and reading of the score is somewhat more leisure than Eugen Jochum with the Berlin Philharmonic. With Jochum, we have a performance with more emotional thrust and urgency, and excitement. It is also worth noting that a cymbal clash was employed by Jochum by the beginning bars of the Fourth movement, something that Bruckner (although debated) originally intended before Schalk removed it his ill-advised revision of the score. Only Daniel Baremboim became the second conductor to employ the cymbal @ the finale.

Despite my preference towards Jochum, the greatest interpreter of Bruckner's works, Bohm's recording with the Vienna Philharmonic was, simply, magnificent. It would a wonderful idea, however, to purchase this disc with one featuring Jochum & the Berlin Philharmonic (under Deutsche Grammophon). The difference in Bohm's & Jochum's style & approach is rather marvellously dis-quieting.

Recommendable!!!

This recording, I believe, was made in the AAD format, but it is still one the premiere Bruckner recordings of this great symphony on Compact disc. If anyone at Polygram is reading this, please put on Decca's Double package, Maestro Bohm's recording of the Bruckner 3rd and 4th symphonies, and if anyone at DG is reading this, please package together his readings of the 7th and my all time Bruckner favorite symphony the 8th. Bohm was, in my view, an underrated Bruckner interpreter. He was indeed a giant, as quite a few great conductors such as Karajan, Wand, Furtwangler, Klemperer, Szell, Solti and Bernstein were. By all means, Don't hesitate on getting this album. I sure can't wait for its reissue. It's long overdue too, London Decca, Shame on you. Brucknerians, you will love this disc. This is the closest you will ever hear as to how they sounded under Hans Richter when he conducted the Vienna Philharmonic and they premiered this work together. A story goes that Richter read the score through, not even hearing a note, and the champagne bottle corks went flying, Bruckner himself was with him when he read the score! This was reissued before, but hopefully it should remain permanently in circulation now.

Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 / Karl Böhm is a recording under the direction of Karl Böhm who leads the Winer Philharmonic on this Decca recording from 1974. This version of this particular symphony is called the Nowak version. Robert Simpson has written well-written and intersting music notes. Highly recommended. 5/5.

I'll be honest: when I first heard this much-acclaimed performance of Bruckner's beautiful "Romantic" Symphony, I didn't get what the big deal was. It seemed fine enough but overall nothing special. But then I realized: the beauty of Karl Bohm's reading is its objectivity and simplicity. As Andrew Huth writes in his booklet notes for this reissue, "There is no applied 'interpretation,' no idiosyncratic personal view, but a detailed and faithful rendering of a score..." Bohm simply allows his Vienna Philharmonic players to play what's on the printed page, and there is hardly a sense of the conductor's personality imposing its will on the score via such things as strange tempo manipulations or excessively slow tempos. Add the fact that the Vienna Philharmonic play the score marvelously, turning every corner with confidence and consummate professionalism, and in the end you have this glorious performance of a great piece. I enjoyed it a lot more second time, and could definitely come back to it many more times. You probably will, too, esp. if you love this particular Bruckner symphony.

It was nice to read a review done by an actual musician, at least identified as a musician. I was fortunate enough to be living in Vienna and studying horn during the Bohm years. He had a very special relationship with the VPO and they played for him like for no one else.
To call this a routine performance is to have no understanding of this piece. This is without a doubt the definitive performance of this music.
Bohm knew what the VPO could do and he let them do it. The music shines and reflects the deep Bruckner soul. One must realize that part of this music is the resonance of the orchestral color itself apart from the notes. That is the essence of Bruckner! Don't miss this one.

Sometimes everything just clicks. It all goes right on the night. All the careful preparation is realised in performance. The conductor's private vision is perfectly transmitted to and by the orchestra before him. The soloists' most felicitous phrases gel ideally with the conductor's large-scale interpretation of the work.

This was just such a performance - or rather a set of recording sessions. Bohm was certainly well versed in the Bruckner canon, but he was not one of those `core' Bruckner conductors like Jochum and Wand or even Furtwangler and Knappertsbusch. Recordings also exist of him conducting Symphonies 3, 5, 7 and 8 as well as other readings of the Fourth, but none of them are really in the class of this performance, fully worthy of Decca's `Legend' moniker emblazoned on the jewel case. Perhaps it's better not to speculate about why it all worked so well at those sessions, but just to rejoice that it did and relish the results.

`Romantic' was Bruckner's own soubriquet for his Fourth. It certainly stands apart from most of the rest of the canon in its freshness, its sense of the Austrian countryside and indeed of Austrianness in general. It doesn't seek to explore the construction and structure of a symphony in the way the 5th or the 8th do, nor to plumb the spiritual depths of the 8th or 9th. Bruckner's programmatic descriptions for his Fourth conjure up a medieval world of forests, birdsong, hunting expeditions and knightly derring-do. That's not to say it is not constructed with much thought through seven years of the usual Brucknerian overhauls, including three different Finales. Its form is certainly a lot more tightly organised than its predecessor, the Wagnerian 3rd. But its character is, perhaps, more simply approachable than the other symphonies.

For this recording, Bohm was at the head of the greatest Austrian orchestra - at the time, arguably the world's greatest orchestra - the Vienna Philharmonic. And the rapport between them seems almost tangible. Certainly their distinctive sound with its rich string tone, its unique French Horns and full brass sound suits this music to a T. One always seems to sense Bruckner, the organist, behind the tiered orchestration he employs, often using the different sections - strings, woodwind, brass - to produce separately coloured blocks of sound layered on top of each other. The Vienna Philharmonic of 1973 seem the perfect instrument to realise this sound. That horn sound is glorious thoughout and the woodwind playing here is exceptional, too.

As to Bohm's interpretation, he really understands the Austrian heart of this music. His tempi are relaxed but never sluggish. Bruckner felt it necessary to qualify the tempo markings in every movement - the first's allegro is nicht zu schnell (not too fast): so is the Finale's: the slow movement is Andante, but quasi allegretto: and the Scherzo's Trio is marked nicht zu schnell again. Bohm observes all this, allowing the music room to breathe while always sustaining momentum. The pacing and placing of Bruckner's huge climaxes is always spot-on. And he fully understands exactly where the highest point of each movement should be - he doesn't play all his cards too early: the climaxes are `scaled' to retain a meaningful shape to each movement and to the whole symphony.

This is definitely a disc that merits the title Legendary. And at a bargain price. What more encouragement should you need?

This recording was the first Bruckner symphony I bought and one of the first Bruckner symphonies I listened to. I instantly found it moving,inspiring,and fascinating. The opening crescendo of the first movement is one of the most awe-inspiring and lovely moments in all symphonic literature. The adagio is most lyrical and displays Bruckner's prowess in writing slow movements. The 4th's scherzo instantly captivated me and the brass writing is spectacular. Then the finale; while it has been said by some scholars that this finale contains some structural flaws, as a layman I do not notice this. Instead I find it to be a thrilling experience, indeed it is one of Bruckner's most amazing finales'. After many months of listening to this great work I decided to get the score and read along, and I must say this symphony is perfect for just that. It never gets tedious or uninteresting while reading along with the music. Now about the recording.

I knew nothing about Bohm and hardly anything about Bruckner when I bought this album, but after the first listen I was struck by its intensity. I would warmly recommend it to any classical music fan. It is one of Bruckner's most approachable symphonies. The acoustics are magnificent, Bohm has the tempo down just right, and the orchestra sounds clear and loud. I love this recording & this symphony, and look foward to many more listens in the years to come.

This is regarded by many experts as "the" recording of Bruckner's Fourth (as far as any can be so called) and it does not disappoint. The sound on this Decca disc is flawless, as has the others I've listened to in the "Legends" series. Sadly, Decca, like DG and EMI (esp. EMI) has a sad history of letting great recordings go out of print...don't miss this one if youre looking for a recording of this peice...it will be a long time before such a series is again seen.