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48 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Overall, a great set of Bruckner performances, December 18, 2004
There may never be a set of Bruckner performances that are consistently good across the board, but Herbert von Karajan's set of the nine is the closest to consistent satisfaction that I've heard.
Karajan's Bruckner style stands in stark contrast to Eugen Jochum's: while the latter is flexible tempo-wise and spontaneous-sounding, Karajan focuses more on maintaining steady tempos and preserving a sense of the symphonic whole. Jochum's more obviously Romantic approach to Bruckner works more often than it fails---his 1958 DG Fifth is a personal favorite among recordings of the Fifth---but, while it does bring a human warmth to some of the music, it could be argued that his sometimes excessive tempo fluctuations lose the sense of symphonic wholeness that Karajan is able to bring to them. And, while there are those who (sometimes rightfully) admonish Karajan for his obssessive attention to beauty of sound, his DG Bruckner performances certainly do not lack in moments of power and emotion. The performance of Bruckner's beautiful Seventh Symphony that is a part of this set is remarkable in this regard.
So, some thoughts on the individual performances:
No. 1: An energetic, intense performance of a relatively early work (he was about 40 when he wrote it). Perhaps could use a little more lightness of touch (the Finale does sound rather overweight); but an imposing performance nevertheless, with a lyrical slow movement.
No. 2: Another good performance of a highly underrated symphonic work. Karajan treats the second movement Andante as an Adagio, and makes it sound rather self-indulgent and draggy in spots; but the rest is right-on, both lyrical and anguished by turns. The finale, especially, is fiery and dramatic even at a fairly steady tempo. (Pity about the dropped Scherzo repeats, though.)
No. 3: The 1889 revision of Bruckner's troubled Third Symphony is not the best of the three existing versions of the work (Bruckner's original 1873 score is probably the best overall, with the 1877 version a serviceable compromise between the wild original and the 1889 bludgeoning), but Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic make the best of it. In fact, they do more than that. This is an electrifying performance from start to finish, played with power by the BPO (especially those glorious trumpets). Blazing stuff!
No. 4: On its own, this 1976 DG remake is basically fine---I like its driven, dramatic thrust, appropriate to one of Bruckner's "lighter" symphonic works. But Karajan's broader 1970 EMI recording with the same orchestra is much more memorable, and in slightly better sound too.
No. 5: 3/4s of a great performance. The Adagio is quite moving at a very slow tempo; the Finale culminates in a concluding chorale that is as awesome-sounding as any great performance should be. I have misgivings about Karajan's reading of the first movement, though; as magnificently as the BPO plays it, it still seems a bit too slow and monolithic for its own good (it's virtually at one very moderate tempo, which is not what Bruckner indicates in the score). A notable performance, nonetheless, with great orchestral playing throughout.
No. 6: The one misfire of the set. Karajan still shows a structural grip on the symphony, but the BPO playing simply sounds uninvolved in parts. The slow movement is a particular disappointment; the playing is so bland that it sounds merely slow-moving rather than transcendant. Not the worst performance of this underrated symphony, but hardly the best.
No. 7: A beautiful performance, with a particularly sublime slow movement. His 1989 recording with the Vienna Philharmonic has better recorded sound, though.
No. 8: This was Karajan's favorite symphony among the nine, and his 1988 recording of this work with the Vienna Philharmonic remains one of the best. The 1976 DG recording that is part of this set is no slouch either: it's quicker overall (which I rather prefer), and it has great authority. (That said, the VPO's orchestral playing---especially the brass playing---outclasses the BPO in spots.)
No. 9: The cycle culminates in a worthy performance of what could have Bruckner's greatest symphony, had he not died before finishing the Finale. Carlo Maria Giulini's grand 1988 Vienna Philharmonic recording will always be a personal favorite among Ninths, but Karajan's less extreme interpretation is almost as powerful. The Adagio here may not be as "final" as other interpretations make it, but it is touching nevertheless.
In the end, I would not recommend just getting one set of Bruckner symphonies, since Bruckner's Nine covers such a wide range of musical environments that inevitably some conductors will respond to some symphonies better than others. Still, all in all, this Karajan set will satisfy if you are looking to buy all the Bruckner symphonies in one purchase. As a whole cycle, this is one of the most consistently terrific sets around, and will serve as a fine introduction to the musical world of Anton Bruckner, one of the most touching figures in music history. Recommended.
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38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If you want all of your Bruckner in one box, this is the one, March 22, 2005
I normally only add a review if I feel I have something to add to the existing reviews. The other reviewers have pretty well covered it here, but I just wanted to add that, for those who don't want to get into Bruckner collecting mania that "afflicts" some of us, this is the boxed set of Bruckner symphonies to get if you want to have just one. Now, if you find yourself really loving these symphonies, there are individual performances by other conductors that you might want to supplement with, but you can't go wrong with this set as a whole.
When I "clicked on" this set, I was kind of surprised that no "Karajan-bashers" had weighed in on this set. Personally, I feel that Karajan was unquestionably one of the greatest Bruckner conductors of the latter half of the 20th century. However I am of the opinion that there was a noticeable decline in the quality of his recorded performances (as a whole, not just his Bruckner) during the late 1970's. Most of the "too polished, too refined, lacking in 'fire'/passion" commentary is more pertinent to most of the last decade of his life, which happened to roughly coincide with the advent of digital recording technology. In the 1980's, the aging HvK became increasingly focused on sound quality, and many of his later recorded performances suffered from this. Some bugs in the new medium (digital), combined with Karajan's "ear" perhaps not being what it used to be, did indeed make most of his late recordings (esp. the studio ones) sound "too cold and refined." His last Johann Strauss recordings, and his last Beethoven symphonies cycle, are good examples of this. Posthumous remastering of many of these late digital recordings--i.e. the "Karajan Gold" series--has improved some of them.
Fortunately, for Bruckner fans, most of these Bruckner recordings were made prior to the aforementioned "decline," and thankfully, the ones that were made in the "digital era"-- symphonies 1-3--were some of the better recorded performances of his last period.
I don't usually review this way, but doing a breakdown of the individual symphonies in order might be the easiest way to do this...
1) This was the last symphony to be recorded in the series. Karajan's first does have some "early digital glare," and there isn't a lot of space around the orchestral sound, but it is still a good performance, not lacking in fire in the scherzo and outer movements. The brightness and closeness of the recording might actually add some intensity to it. Some recordings that I would put ahead of this one are Jochum's DG, Sawallisch, and Barenboim's CSO recording, but Karajan's is a good one to have if you want them all in one box. Chailly made an excellent recording of the, often unfairly maligned, "Vienna Version" of 1891 of the First that is worth hearing (the more familiar "Linz Version" of 1866 is the one that Karajan, and most other conductors, have rightfully used).
2) The second to last to be recorded in the series, and a really good Second, despite the "early digital" sound. This would easily fall into my top five Bruckner seconds. Karajan was generally a "Haas man," as am I (I'm not going to go down that winding road of the "versions" of Bruckner symphonies here, but his Haas allegiance is one of the things that gives the "Karajan-bashers" one more thing not to like about his Bruckner), but the version he uses here is a "hybrid:" i.e. the codas of the first and last movements have "two waves," the first of which were excised in the later version of the score. Karajan's version removes the first wave of the coda from the first movement, but leaves in the first wave of the finale's coda. This is the kind of editing that might make some Bruckner buffs say, "Hey, wait a minute!"--but Karajan manages it very convincingly, pacing his first movement coda, accordingly, so that it brings to mind the coda of the first movement of Beethoven's Ninth. As a side note, personally, I admire conductors who pick and choose from the versions of the Bruckner symphonies rather than rigidly adhering to either Haas or Nowak.
The sound here is less close and bright than the recording of the First Symphony, and the adagio (which is actually my favorite adagio of the first five numbered symphonies) is beautiful, with some glorious horn sound. My favorite Second is one by Hans Zender with The SWDRSO Baden Baden on the Amati label, which is unfortunately out-of-print and hard to find. The one in the Haitink Concertgebouw box is my next favorite. Barenboim's CSO recording (unfortunately, also only available in a box) is also very good, as is Wand's Cologne recording. I find most other recordings of this work too slow.
3) The third to last to be recorded in this set, this Third has my very favorite reading of the first movement, well-paced; and with blazing brass sound, esp. in the majestic climax. Unfortunately, Karajan chooses the 1889 version of the Third with its big cuts in the finale, but for better or worse this version was the choice of most conductors of his generation and before (incl. Jochum). Not only was this the first digital recording in this set, but having been made in late 1980, it was among the first generation of digital recordings. The sound is not w/o it's "early digital" glare and closeness, but it is not as uncomfortable to listen to as some early digital recordings, and as in the First Symphony, the brightness somehow seems to add to the intensity of the performance. For a recording of an earlier version, w/o the chopped-up finale, Sinopoli on DG is my favorite...although I must admit that I prefer the first movement of the 1889 version, mainly because it has a better climax, imo.
4) The Fourth and Seventh were recorded in 1975, and were the second and third recordings to be made in this series. Imo, this Fourth would be just about perfect if HvK had chosen the Nowak edition, which brings back the symphony's opening horn call in the coda of the finale. The pacing of all of the movements is excellent and the analog sound has plenty of atmosphere. As I mentioned above, I am generally a "Haas man" but the Fourth is the one symphony in which I think Nowak scores over Haas by bringing back that all-important horn call. Imo w/o the horn call in the coda of the finale, this is one of the symphonies in which Bruckner's first movement coda outshines the coda to his finale. Other conductors whose otherwise great recordings are marred by the missing horn call, imo, are Wand and Walter; while Jochum, whose Fourth might be my overall favorite despite his dirge-like slow movement, and Bohm are examples of conductors who brought back the "Nowak horn call" (as I call it) in the finale. Btw, this recording of the Fourth is much better than the one Karajan made for EMI/Angel, imo.
5) The Fifth was, appropriately enough, the fifth recording in this series, late in 1976. This was the first Fifth I ever heard, and it is still my favorite. I picked up a somewhat scratchy two-LP set of it in a used record store, and I still remember how excited I was the day that it was issued on CD (coupled with the First). There are versions with more flexible tempi, but none that are more majestic, and Karajan scores by using two sets of timpani in the codas of the first movement and finale, making the latter in particular, an even more thrilling conclusion than usual. You can easliy hear the second set of timpani, but a friend of mine who saw Karajan conduct a thrilling account of the Fifth live in Vienna confirmed that this was a trademark of his Bruckner Fifth. As with the Fourth, the sound has a nice sense of space which gives plenty of room for the majestic brass passages, incl. the all-important chorale of the finale, to resonate. Karajan-bashers, and purists, before you get your aquiline noses out of joint about the extra set of timpani, remember that Jocum augmented the chorale of the finale with extra brass (which may have been sanctioned by one of Bruckner's well-meaning "editors," such as the Schalks and Lowe, but was not officially sanctioned by the composer): such alterations are part of the vanishing art of interpretation.
6) This was the sixth recording to be made in the series, the last one of the '70's, and the last analog one. As others have commented, this is indeed the "acchiles heel" of this set. It is not a bad performance, but it does sound a bit cool and indifferent compared to the great recordings of this piece. However, if you only want one "in a box" you needn't feel bad about having this one. Jochum's DG Sixth is still probably my favorite, along with Haitink's, and Barenboim's CSO (DG) recording. Some people think the Sawallisch is the one to have, but I think his first movement is just too fast. The majority of Bruckner fans seem to like the Klemperer, but I think his first movement and scherzo are too slow, and his slow movement is too fast (of performances with a similar profile, I prefer the Keilberth BPO recording on Teldec, but it is out of print, and has become a bit of a rarity; although it occasionally turns up in a used CD bin).
7) This is a really good Seventh, recorded in 1975 within a month of the Fourth. The sound is a little more dry than the Fourth or Fifth, but still has a good sense of atmosphere. Karajan's pacing is very satisfying in all movements. Imo, this is his best recording of the Seventh, even better than his last (live) recording with the VPO, which is marred by sound that is too bright and harsh.
8) The Bruckner Eighth was one of Karajan's specialties, so it is perhaps not surprising that it was recorded first in this series, in early 1975. Even among people who greatly admire Karajan's Bruckner Eighths, I am probably in the minority when I say that this--and not his acclaimed final VPO Eighth--is my favorite of his recordings of this...
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Olympian Bruckner, February 27, 2008
Herbert von Karajan was a dedicated Brucknerian throughout his career. He recorded symphonies 4, 7, 8 and 9 more than once and, during the 1970's, produced a splendid integral cycle with the BPO. It is that cycle which is included in this volume of DG's "Karajan Edition" originally issued almost two decades ago.
Karajan's approach to Bruckner could aptly be called "Olympian": noble, rarified, lofty, hieratic, remote from worldly concerns. Don't look to Karajan for a humane or rustic view of the composer, for this is Bruckner *sub specie aeternitatis* so to speak. My guess is that Bruckner would have approved, given that in each of these works he was trying to bespeak the ineffable, to scale the heights of transcendence; though one does miss in Karajan's interpretations the heartfelt sense of religious devotion, tinged with human vulnerability, that Jochum provides. One also misses the existential angst, the near-operatic fervor, Fürtwangler evoked in his versions of 5, 8 and 9.
But at their best Karajan and the BPO approach something like perfection, and it's hard to gainsay that. If only the DG engineers had done their part and provided a richer, more alluring tonal spectrum, all would be well. Unfortunately, nearly everything Karajan did for this label from 1975 to 1985 was beset with sonic insufficiencies. The analog recordings in this set (4 through 9) sound shallow and cold, while the digital recordings (1 through 3) are almost unbearably strident. So if it's sonic splendor you are after, look elsewhere. I must also call attention to the fact that Karajan's cycle omits the two "non-canonical" symphonies (Nos. "O" and "00").
Those caveats aside, all Brucknerians should at least hear this set, for it contains many splendors, including a remarkably compelling 1, a minatory 3, a uniquely cogent 5, a serene and noble 7, an apocalyptic 8, and a majestic 9. No-one surpasses Karajan in these works. The other symphonies are also given splendid interpretations, even if one can do better elsewhere. I prefer a more lyrical, Schubertian 2 (try Giulini), a mellower 4 (as with Jochum or Walter), and a more searching 6 (Klemperer wins hands down). Prospective purchasers should also know that Karajan's earlier, more relaxed, interpretations of 4 and 7 are avaliable on EMI budget-priced reissues, and that his later, more deeply felt 8 with the VPO can be had on a full-price DG set. His warmer 9 from 1966 is also available as an DG import; many critics prefer it to the version included in the integral set under consideration here. His 1959 version of 8 with the BPO is darker and more meditative than either of his later accounts, and it's avaliable on a budget label from EMI.
Prospective purchasers of this set might do well to acquire some of these alternative Karajan versions, and wait to see if DG reissues the 1970's cycle at a lower price range. At the time of this writing it's clearly overpriced, even for an import. If you require a good integral cycle for a more modest outlay, I'd recommend Jochum/DG (though the sound is not great), Solti/Decca (wonderful sound, controversial interpretations) or Skrowaczewski/Oehms (superb interpretations, good sound, variable orchestral playing) or possibly Barenboim/Warner (eccentric with flashes of insight).
In the end, however, Karajan still reigns supreme in Bruckner. If price is not an issue for you, and you don't mind variable sound quality, then this set will be a worthwhile investment.
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