Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 [Original recording remastered]

Anton Bruckner (Composer), John Barbirolli (Conductor), Hallé Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Hallé Orchestra
• Conductor: John Barbirolli
• Composer: Anton Bruckner
• Audio CD (August 14, 2001)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: BBC Legends
• ASIN: B00005LW1G
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #446,593 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Overwhelming recension of the "greatest" symphony, November 5, 2001

By 

"billmacv" (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 (Audio CD)

It was with some reservations that I came to Barbirolli's 1970 live performance of Bruckner's Eighth Symphony, despite the excellent press it received in England (the British tend to be myopically chauvinistic when it comes to their own composers, conductors and performers, and all but canonize Barbirolli). At first the reservations seemed to hold. The sound, though remastered, remains on the harsh side, with a brash glare on the fortissimi (of which there are plenty). Any quiet passage (of which there are no lack, either) offered opportunity for much throat-clearing and hawking from the audience. The performance is on the rough-hewn side, with none of the gleaming polish one has come to expect from state-of-the-art studio recordings, with every note in place and in balance.
None of this matters once Barbirolli's vision of the symphony begins to unfurl. It's a fiercely committed, impassioned performance -- Bruckner's vast Gothic spaces lit by Italianate fire. Not only is this the most emotionally gripping performance of the 8th I've heard, it's one of the most overwhelming performances of anything I've ever come across. There is a vocal minority which considers (pace Beethoven) Bruckner's last completed symphony to be the pinnacle of symphonic literature; Barbirolli's is the performance to help convince skeptics.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The spiritual, humane Brucknerian!, November 27, 2001

By 

David Anthony Hollingsworth (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 (Audio CD)

A foretaste to the highly acclaimed Boulez 1996 recording with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (VPO) under Deutsche Grammophon (DG)? Perhaps. Like Boulez, Horenstein, and even Jochum (though using the Novak edition), Barbirolli approaches the score with zest and a sense of urgency: a kind of dramatic exhuberence that would compel you to rise up in a hurry and say Halleluja. But are their performances emotionally and spiritually detached from this glorious score? Absolutely not. As with Horenstein, Jochum and Boulez, Barbirolli brings out the humanity of the score and of Bruckner. Since when should we look at his symphonies exclusively as musical cathedrals with its majestic structures? Indeed, the magic of Bohm, Barenboim, Wand, Karajan, Haitink, and Guilini rested in their ability in sustaining the monumental grandeur behind the symphonies. But, Barbirolli along with Jochum and Boulez give us other dimensions of Bruckner that shall equally be cherished. Horenstein approach is a wonderful synthesis of the majestic and the drama. To some extent, so is Barbirolli's.

Michael Kennedy states in his sleeve notes that "For some conductors, the architectural splendor of Bruckner is their first consideration. For Barbirolli, it was humanity and spirituality." I agree to an extent, for the architectural splendor of Bruckner is inevitably a spiritual exercise deep in one's soul and subconscious: Wand, Barenboim (with the Chicago Symphony) and Karajan (with the VPO) are proven cases in point. But, Kennedy is absolutely right on Barbirolli. In the first and second movements, Barbirolli approaches them with fiery temperament and drive. His tempi are relentless and energetic, his impulsiveness obvious but never quite austere. His warmth is without question, though. The trio in the scherzo movement is nicely sustained and going to the Adagio, third movement, that sense of warmth is even more apparent. But, believe it or not, there is something of the architectural splendor in Barbirolli's approach. The dramatic edge of the first two movements and the finale are largely absent here. However, the passion accompanies the warmth admirably going into and beyond the glorious climax remarkably well-rendered here. The finale is exhuberently and idiomatically performed; it's well paced and dramatic and the ending lacks that Wagnerian grandeur that you'll see in Karajan's recording with the Vienna Philharmonic

The performance of Barbirolli's Halle Orchestra is not entirely without flaws. The strings were not gifted with the sonority and the richness of the Vienna Philharmonic or the Concertgebouw. The brass is not particularly well-polished: a few crack notes prop up from time to time. But, the performance has fluency and commitment, especially given the fact that it was to be Barbirolli's last. The performance is not perfect. However, the insight behind it is special and Barbirolli gave us pure Bruckner without the Mahlerianism. A hyme of praise no question now or ever, no matter who you're asking.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An eloquent tribute to Barbirolli's artistry -- one of his best live recordings, April 12, 2008

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 (Audio CD)

This recording has attracted eloquent and perceptive reviews (I wish Amazon would give us more from Andrew Green, who seems more sensible and astute than their usual run). The basic facts have been well laid out already: Barbirolli is urgent, adopts speeds fast enough to seem risky, emphasizes the shaping of phrases rather than grand "architecture" (I'm not sure anymore what this overused term actually means, even when I use it!), and defies his mortality with increased energy in this, his final concert in London before he died.

As to the recorded sound, I don't hear the glare and harshness that another reviewer complains about, just a degree of thinnness. In the general run of broadcasts unearthed by BBC Legends, I'd say that this one belongs in the top quarter. The Halle Orchestra is placed close to the mike, which exposes their lack of technical finesse, but we get few jarring bobbles. Just be aware that the edgy lower strings would nevre be mistaken for the Vienna Phil., or the sometimes catch-as-catch-can brass climaxes. (How many great musicians were willing to live and play in Manchester on a miserably low salary in 1970? We have to be realistic.) For all that, the orchestra must have sensed something, because they play with heartfelt commitment and on the whole surpass themselves.

In all, I can add my voice to the other reviewers who were totally caught up in Barbirolli's eloquence. This is a fitting tribute to him, and perhaps one he consciously carved out, given his precarious medical condition.