| Site review by Polly Nomial April 24, 2008
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Performance: Sonics (MC): |
This recording is the second of Young's cycle of the Bruckner symphonies in their original editions.
For this listener, there are two fatal flaws. Firstly the tempo for the first movement is absurd - for all the discussion in the very good notes (almost reason enough for getting the disc) about the duple time, there is no way other than quadruple time can be felt in the slow tempo adopted by Young. This ruins any sense of building tension throughout the movement and, later, symphony. The other flaw is the orchestra; the Hamburg Philharmonic are no match for either Kubelik's Bavarian RSO (see Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 - Kubelik) or Nott's Bamberg Symphony (see Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 - Nott); principally the brass can neither articulate or project adequately for this music. That the recording was made in concert is a surprising fact as there is little indication of the extra tension or inspiration that they usually provide.
From a recording perspective, little has been done to help the brass section nor to minimise the audience noise. At times one can sympathise with the restlessness but this is less and less welcome on repeated listening. I have to wonder why alternative performances or a rehearsal weren't used to patch these moments. The presentation of the music also lacks the absolute clarity that the best recordings provide, not helping an already awkward orchestral balance.
Not recommended in preference to the Nott recording (if you want a modern and original version) or Kubelik (for a fine example of this past master at work).
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Copyright © 2008 John Broggio and SA-CD.net
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