Customer Reviews

Bruckner: Symphony No. 00 'Study Symphony' / 'Volkfest' (1878) Finale to Symphony No. 4

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

PERFORMANCE: 9 out of 10.

RECORDING: 9 out of 10.

THE "STUDY" SYMPHONY:

Fortunately, there is only one version of this symphony. It is full of Beethovenian, Mozartian, Mendelssohnian and Schumannesque touches. The scherzo is the most original of the movements. Some conductors tried to inflate this symphony to sound like the others. Wisely, Tintner steers clear of that temptation. The 1st Symphony is quantum leap above this and was only written a couple of years later. Nevertheless, it is quite a pleasant piece. The edition is by Nowak. (The total time of this performance is shorter than those of other conductors. This is simply because Tintner did not repeat the expositions in the outer movements, not because he adopted any controversial tempos.)

THE "VOLKSFEST" FINALE OF THE 4TH:

This is the 1878 version of the finale (ed. Nowak). One can play this after the first three movements of the "1878-80" version which Tintner recorded for this series. It's a shortened and simplified reworking of the original finale of 1874. Like the 1874 finale, the "Volkfest" lacks the slow c minor section (repeated in different keys) that Bruckner added to the "1878-80" version. It's an interesting piece, but I could never prefer it over the "1878-80" finale.

SUMMARY:

This CD lives up to the high standards that Dr. Tintner and Naxos have set. I heartily recommend the entire series to all those who are unfamiliar with the composer and to comparative "Brucknerheads".

Get this CD! You are unlikely to find a public performance of Bruckner's "00", and there are not many recordings either. It is lovely music, and very interesting if you know the later Bruckner symphonies. That Tintner, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and Naxos, can produce a good recording goes without saying.

Symphony "00" is an exercise during Bruckner's studies. It is clearly not mature Bruckner. Tintner, in the acompanying booklet, compares it to Schumann and Mendelsohn. As a Scandinavian, I am even reminded of Grieg sometimes (his symphony, also an early work, is contemporary with Bruckners "00"), but he was also influenced by Mendelsohn, so Tintner is, of course, right. Then, in the middle of it all, you can hear the coming Bruckner (ending of first movement, scherzo). The juxtaposition of Mendelsohn and Bruckner, and the glimpse of Bruckner's development as a composer, is fascinating! It seems that he went through both a Mendelsohn period and a Wagner period, with more and more of himself, before he became the "real" Bruckner - nobody else could have written his 9th!

Once again Georg Tintner has made a convincing case for a neglected Bruckner work. Earlier, it was the original version of the third. This time it is Bruckner's first symphony--the study symphony. Other versions never ask to be listened to a second time, but this one does. It is unusual for Bruckner in that it is early Romantic in style--Schubert or Schumann, although the scherzo sounds like the Bruckner we know. Tintner brings out its lyricism (with a little cheating, he admits). It certainly ranks with the symphonies of Schumann. Once again, the RSNO is superb and the sound is excellent. But do not listen to the "filler" too soon after listening to the symphony. This second version of the last movement of the fourth was quite properly rejected by Bruckner. Although as usual the performance is excellent, it just isn't good Bruckner. But it is the Bruckner we know as opposed to this romantic lyricist of the symphony and the contrast between the two works is so extreme that you almost find yourself wishing Bruckner had not become Bruckner. But the CD is a splendid addition to what has been a spendid series.

This symphony, Bruckner's first attempt at the form, hints at the masterpieces to come. However, it belies its influences very easily. While it still has moments that show Bruckner's unique voice, I hear a lot of Beethoven, Schubert, and Schumann in this symphony. The excellent scherzo is probably the portion of the symphony that stands out as being the most "Brucknerian"; Bruckner always wrote great scherzos and this is no exception. Tintner gives a sensitive and devoted performance that is up to the high standards of this series. The Symphony 00 is definitely worth the investment for Bruckner or Tintner fans, but it obviously is not on the same level as Bruckner's mature symphonies.
The filler is the 20 minute "Volksfest" finale to Bruckner's Symphony No. 4. It is the second of three different finales Bruckner wrote for this popular symphony. It is structured differently from the final version, but you will recognize a lot of the same melodies. I was very impressed by Tintner's performance; I think I will program the first 3 movements of Tintner's full Symphony No. 4 but substitute this "Volksfest" finale from time to time as a change of pace.

Any review of Tintner's Bruckner cycle has to begin with the expression of a debt of gratitude. What Naxos and Tintner contributed to the Bruckner catalogue by choosing to record so much of the "unorthodox" Bruckner is of the very greatest value, and more often than not--as with the 1873 version of the Third--the results are not only convincing, but impressive. Having said that, and having given credit where credit's due, some restraint is needed in reviewing this recording of the Study Symphony (No. 00), and to give it a five-star review seems to suggest, erroneously I believe, that it could scarcely be improved upon.

Tintner himself recognizes in the liner notes the difficulty of making a convincing recording of the symphony, acknowledging weakness in the Finale and implying weakness overall, with the notable exception of the Scherzo (not the Trio), which he seems to think is at least as good as most early Bruckner Scherzi. After listening to his recording, one would be tempted to agree with Tintner's assessments (good and bad), but I believe that he's stacked the deck. That is, giving the piece a fair listening has been complicated by the fact that the Scherzo is the most well-performed of the four movements, and I can't help but wonder if perhaps Tintner's appraisal of the symphony adversely affected the quality of his interpretation and, therefore, of the orchestra's performance.

Never given to quick tempos--and I suspect this is a habit in part born of having a very good, though not exceptionally good ensemble at his disposal--Tintner's modest tempos for the outlying movements of the symphony have two significantly negative effects: first, the sluggish tempos derail the forward momentum of some inherently average musical material; correspondingly, the players tend towards somewhat lackluster, localized phrasing, especially in the brass. Granted, the score itself gives little guidance in breaking free of isolated gestures and in playing the overall line, but this is a recurring challenge in Bruckner's scores across his oeuvre, and all great Bruckner conductors--including Tintner on other occasions--have found a way to grapple with it. Here, however, Tintner has not escaped the oppression of the individual gesture to illustrate sectional directions and relationships, and so in that sense he has not let the music of this piece come out. The problem resurfaces in the secondary material of the second movement, where the frequent obbligato lines are often rather lifeless, and in the Trio of the third, where nothing much seems to happen beyond a play-through.

The slightly sluggish tempo chosen for the fourth movement led Tintner, I suspect, not to repeat the exposition, and for the balance of material across the movement, this is surely a mistake. We are just not given a fair sense of exposition before the movement begins to develop the material. I don't think the expository material itself is objectionable. In fact, played with a bit more enthusiasm and at the quick pace it seems to have been designed for, I am convinced it would be quite thrilling. Unfortunately, even at Tintner's chosen tempo, the ensemble struggles the most here, and many of the eighth-note passages in the strings are rather further from clean than one might hope.

Some of the most outstanding playing and conducting in the performance can be found in the second movement (There is some sensitive playing here--for example, just before the second statement of the secondary thematic material.), and, as Tintner must have recognized himself, the playing in the Scherzo is quite strong. Certainly this gives the impression that these parts of the symphony are of the highest quality from a compositional point of view, but again, I think perception and performance are inseparable here. The symphony needs to be given under hands and with players that don't start with the idea that it is merely a "study." The score will yield finer moments than this performance leads us to believe.

For all that, Tintner's record of the Study Symphony is a welcome document, as is the performance of the "Volksfest" Finale to the Fourth Symphony which concludes the disc, and I listen to it with sincere gratitude and enjoyment, at least until the five-star performance comes along.

Bruckner was a great composer. He took many wrong decisions in his artistic career, but certainly the decision to exclude this "study symphony" from his official works catalogue was very right. It is an inmmature and uneven work,
but it announces many of the composer's later skills. It is interesting to
know this work, but it is not for sure an essential. Maestro Tintner does a
good performance in good sound. Good CD for curiosities chasers.

I have always loved Bruckner's symphonies. Brahms called them "Symphonic boa constrictors". I felt they existed in their own space-time continuum and were formed from of blocks of sound, being moved about until the fit and function of each block was in place, rather like a rebus cube. Gunter Wand, to my ear, gave credence to my conceptions. But, he only recorded the last five symphonies. Then I learned of the work of Georg Tintner, often referred to as a "new Brucknerian". I ordered some of the later symphonies and found that I really related to Tinter's work. Then I ordered the rest of the set, and found that not only did it include Symphonies 1-9, but also Symphony 00 and different recorded editions of the other symphonies. The Tintner experience has been a journey in new expanded universes of sound, and I highly recommend the Naxos set to all. What a disappointment to realize the Georg Tintner committed suicide in 1999, a victim of cancer and depression. I'm glad to have all these recordings as a testament to his work.

I just finished listening to all of the Tintner/Bruckner symphonies a few times each. This is one of the 3 I am not crazy about. Least of all is symphony 3, then 8, and then this "gem" as some have hailed it. I am in good company, even Bruckner did not want this symphony out in circulation. Tintner's rendition is my only exposure to it, and for that I am thankful. It is interesting to listen to Bruckner from the start of his symphonic career.

The real gem from Bruckner's early work is Symphony 0. I have Haitink's, Barenboim's (CSO) and Tintner's renditions, all excellent.

The alternate 4th symphony finale is also my first hearing and is interesting to listen to when it can be heard! About half of the 19 minutes would be a flat line on a heart beat monitor. This track has by far (let me repeat, BY FAR) the crapiest recorded levels of the entire 11 CDs. It definitely either needs a burial at sea or remasterting.

This is a fine recording,however the 1st and 4th movements are performed without there expostion repeats.So the best part of this disc is the recording of the (1878) Volkfest finale from the 4th Symphony, which is most intresting to compare with the Finale of the the other two main versions of the 4th Symphony. This is so far the only recording of this movement. If your interested in a recording of Symphony No.00, may i recommend Inbal with the frankfurt RSO(on Teldec),and Skrowaczewski with the Saarbruecken RSO (on Arte Nova).

Bruckner: Symphony No. 00 'Study Symphony' / 'Volkfest' (1878) Finale to Symphony No. 4 is a recording under the direction of Georg Tintner who leads the Royal Scottish National Orchestra on this Naxos recording from 1998. This symphony was never performed during Bruckner's lifetime. Tintner himself has written the music notes and they are quite interesting and informative. Highly recommended. 5/5.