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Site review by Polly Nomial June 8, 2008
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Performance: Sonics (MC): |
Coming in somewhere between Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 - Jaap van Zweden and Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 - Wand, this shows Harnoncourt to be working his way towards a convincing approach to Bruckner. Most details are well thought through, without detracting from the overall structure of this gargantuan work. A serious problem though is the reading of the slow movement - by no means can it be called "Sehr langsam", it doesn't really about qualify as an Adagio; when one feels that the arco string theme feels like a Länder, it is far too fast. This handicap aside, the rest is well presented by Harnoncourt and the Viennese players respond with considerable warmth. The second (non-SACD) disc will be of great interest to German speakers, where we are presented with extensive rehearsal excerpts of the rehearsals immediately preceding the set of concerts from which the SACD is derived - no texts or translations are provided however.
The sound is very faithful to that of the Wiener Philharmoniker when playing in the Musikverein. The relatively high level of resonance is like that in real life - a reflection perhaps that, good though it is, the hall really was designed for music from an era before Bruckner!
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Copyright © 2008 John Broggio and SA-CD.net
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Review by akiralx January 17, 2005 (7 of 8 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics (MC): |
This is perhaps Harnoncourt's best Bruckner recording to date, and the second on SACD (after the Ninth). The release comes on two discs - the first easily accommodating the symphony (about 73 minutes), and the second having rehearsal extracts (in German, on CD only) which I haven't yet heard.
Bruckner is a composer where performance standards and interpretation more or less go hand in hand - because a badly-played account can wreck even a fine concept. Here, the playing of the VPO is phenomenal, absolutely magnificent in every section, and perfectly balanced.
The interpretation is very fine: urgent without being excitable and with an appropriate Brucknerian spirituality. I found Harnoncourt's Ninth to be compelling but hard-edged, almost aggressive, aided (or hampered, depending on your point of view) by a recording which although vivid was rather dry, lacking something in bloom. It also makes the performance perhaps a touch literal: while Harnoncourt satisfies musically in the Ninth, Barenboim's Teldec recording (my favourite version) has a spiritual element that Harnoncourt conveys only intermittently. In this Fifth there is more nobility and greater warmth, and the climaxes, though powerful, are not flung at the listener as they often were in the Ninth Symphony.
As usual in Bruckner there is little of Harnoncourt's 'period' sensibilities, apart from an occasional 'sighing' in string phrasing where the vibrato is eased off (e.g. after 1'50 in the Adagio - where perhaps he could have let the lower strings sing out a little more). In fact there is nothing controversial or revelatory in this interpretation - as in the Ninth he takes the Trio of the Scherzo more or less 'a tempo' rather than slowing down as used to be the norm. This is just a superb account with countless imaginative touches which raise this live recording (made in June 2004) to a position among the best versions available in modern sound, at least among those I've heard (Sinopoli, Wand II and Barenboim II).
This is a very different sound from the Harnoncourt Ninth, which as I have mentioned had a slight deficit in warmth, more of a gritty power. Here nothing is lacking: sonically this SACD would be among the best I've heard in multi-channel, and as such nigh-on perfect - were it not for a very slight excess of signal to the rear channels, which on occasions sounds a little unrealistic. The upside of this is that the listener is really enveloped in a truly glorious panoply of sound.
The VPO really do play here with extraordinary power, and every facet of this score has been captured superbly. The soundstage is massively wide, as is the dynamic range. The warmth of the strings and wind soloists are vividly caught, but it is the tangible power of the brass that remain in the memory. When the orchestra are in full cry, as in the thrilling closing chorale, the results are truly wonderful from a home listening perspective. This is much more vivid than Ozawa's recent Bruckner Seventh, for example.
I would downgrade the star rating for the recording very slightly owing to the slight rear channels emphasis - but in its own way this is as rewarding listening experience as I've had from an orchestral SACD, matching the superb Chailly Mahler Ninth. Very strongly recommended.
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Review by peteyspambucket March 23, 2005 (6 of 7 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
It's a joy to me to announce as a long-time Brucker lover that this is one of the most exciting performances I've ever heard of this piece. It is incredibly magnificent, beautifully played, and gorgeously recorded.
The first movement is a beautiful exposition of several themes that will come back in the later movements, and each pronouncement of the themes is different and sounds less like a "repeat" as it is often played. This kind of creativity is evident in the entire interpretation. The main arching theme and it's reversal sound truly organic and it's beautiful to hear how they ebb and flow from each other.
The main theme of the 2nd movement is so lovingly played and sustained, and while played faster than I'd grown accustomed, it really works, and shows Bruckner's Schubertian and Mendelssohnian roots. In Harnoncourt's hands, this music comes across as earnest and playful, rather than solemn and sanguine (which is more common).
I have never heard the pulse of the 3rd movement played as it was for this SACD, with the flute, trumpet, and timpani playing the rhythm so aggressively, and the effect is INTENSE -- it's fast and grabs you. The Landler section also has a very tight and exciting tempo. The speed of this allows you to always keep "sight" of the hauptstimme. All of this is done with a lightness and subtlety that lets the music just fly along.
The last movement is filled with wave upon wave of massive sound, and it all goes together and doesn't sound as choppy as it usually is played. I like the playfulness of the clarinet solo in its several pronouncements. I really got a strong sense of the the scale of the piece as recorded and played here because of the juxtaposition of loud and soft passages. Fans of big timpani attacks will be treated to a bunch of them here, and they never cease to thrill! I am always floored during the final brass chorale statement, when the horns embellish the theme (around 22:15). I believe it's got a "FF" dynamic in the score, and it's GREAT to hear it as written -- giving the effect that something is screaming out at the center of the orchestra to be heard and is barely audible amidst everything else blazing (like the exciting sound of a soprano singing over a large orchestra). (This is from my recollection of this passage in the score, and I have to verify this at some point...)
I found the interpretation deeply committed and exciting and at every point containing rhythmic vitality! In many ways Harnoncourt's interpretation of the 5th is more revelatory of the score's hidden beauties than his work on the Bruckner 9th (given the latter piece's greater number of exciting interpretations). Harnoncourt has certainly taken liberties with the score that have improved the piece's affect and add character to the piece that I have never heard while listening to recordings from other conductors. The new gestures that he makes are in variations to the tempi and dynamics, adding portamenti. This is easily a match and many ways a better performance than my personal favorite version from Karajan of the 70's on DG. I look forward to the continuation of this already formidable Harnoncourt Bruckner cycle, and I am eagerly awaiting the 7th, 4th, 6th, 2nd, and 8th (in order of eagerness) :-) I'm also going to start hoping that he does Te Deum, and Mass #2 and #3. It is a rare time for Brucknerians to rejoice.
The recording team have done an amazing job of capturing the sound quality in the Musikverein, which gives a wonderfully dry acoustic when there's an audience present. The soundstage is very wide and you really get a sense of width AND depth. The rear channels provide a very realistic representation of how the hall reverberates in an almost circular pattern. From what I can hear, Harnoncourt uses the traditional VPO seating with antiphonal violins and the celli and bass next to the first violins. This adds to the affect in some sections that the orchestra sounds like a giant organ, which Bruckner's music often sounds like. The incredible dynamic range of this recording makes you want to turn it up and just envelop yourself in the ravishing sound of this orchestra!
Highly Recommended and essential for any Brucknerian!
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