[eyeresist]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Eyeresist How did you like your Karajan complete set?

The cheap Karajan set from HMV.jp turned out to be the Italian edition, and not any kind of remaster (there is a rumour of a remastered set for Karajan's centenary next year). But it's great! Obviously I have to counsel that this is late analog/early digital sound, and you can find superior performances for most symphonies on individual discs. But as a complete set it's very consistent, the BPO sounds great, and Karajan has an intuitive grasp of Bruckner's idiom. I was listening to the 3rd last night, and the BPO brass are extremely impressive, much better than the Dresden Statskapelle in Jochum's set. I think this would make a great starter set, to be complemented by individual purchases in the later symphonies.

In other Bruckner news, I got Skrowaczewski's 'Nullte', plus the quintet adagio for strings. As in my previous experience of Skrow, I find him technically assured but lacking energy. B0 is flawed, but I can imagine much more being made of it. I'm think of trying the Solti, but buying a single disc with 38m of music brings out the Scrooge in me!

I've also bought a couple of $5 Wand CDs from HMV jp - B9/BPO and B8/Cologne Radio. I like Wand because, although he's not the last word in brilliance, he's committed and uneccentric - a safe bet.

For Bruckner's 9 I once again recommend Mravinsky's live recording, which I got on Point Classics in quite good sound. Uneccentric but very emotional. (I have the Venezia set of 7-8-9 but don't recommend it, neither interpretation is brilliant and the B7 has terrible tonal balance, all treble and no bass.)

 

[DarkAngel]

Still more Bruckner on the way, Archiv website has sale now on thier Archiv label reissues of out of print titles. So I got the live Wand/NDR/RCA 8th & 9th from Lubeck cathedral

I am not a huge fan of Wands later BPO/RCA performances, but I have read things that make me think these are much better

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif More Bruckner on the way: Kubelik/BRSO/Sony 3rd + 4th Van Beinum/CBO/Phillips 8th + 9th

Well listened to Kubelik B3, B4.
The 3rd is great, one of the very best I have heard, makes me rethink how good the entire symphony is after hearing it! Unfortunately these versions are not easy to find and I had to get them from HMV Japan.

The Kubelik 4th is good but not one of the elite versions, there are so many great 4ths out there that you really must be extremely good to rise above the pack and nothing here does that for me.

As mentioned the Kubelik/Orfeo B9 is on the way

 

[scompton]

After listening to a couple of Bruckner symphonies on CDs I got out of my local library, I decided I liked them a lot. I ended up buy 2 Bruckner mult-disc collections. I really enjoy both sets, especially the masses.

Eugen Jochum's Complete Symphonies boxed set on EMI

A Brilliant 3 disc set of Bruckner's Masses

 

[Masonjar]

You really can't go wrong with Jochum + Bruckner.

 

[vcoheda]

i am very impressed with this 2-cd set of 8 and 9.

http://www.amazon.com/Bruckner-Symph...7629284&sr=1-1

 

[DarkAngel]

Yesssssssssssssss
Many fans of the Horenstein/BBC Legends 8,9 here with great performances of each symphony........an essential purchase for any Bruckner collector.
Sound is better than you expect from BBC series so all around great deal, and Horenstein generates great deal of dramatic intensity that may surprise some people, masterful performances of the highest caliber

Jochum/EMI
The only question to ask yourself about getting first complete Bruckner set is do I get the Jochum EMI or older DG?

Scompton feel free to comment on any individual performances from set........

 

[eyeresist]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Masonjar /img/forum/go_quote.gif You really can't go wrong with Jochum + Bruckner.

Although some (i.e. me) may disagree. I don't understand people who describe Jochum's Bruckner as "mystical". I think his performances (at least on EMI) lose the "magic" by trying to squeeze Bruckner into a conventional romantic approach. Jochum's structural approach is bitty. There is also definite weakness in the Dresden trumpets.

 

[Tyson]

Jochum is not bad for "stop-start" bruckner. My preferences remain Guilini, Wand, Celi, and especially Tintner.

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyson /img/forum/go_quote.gif Jochum is not bad for "stop-start" bruckner. My preferences remain Guilini, Wand, Celi, and especially Tintner.

hmmmmm........I would use a term more like "accentuated" tempos for Jochum instead of the more blended approaches of some others.

 

[scompton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Scompton feel free to comment on any individual performances from set........

I have nothing to compare them to since these are the only 2 Bruckner albums that I own.

 

[Mark from HFR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yesssssssssssssss Many fans of the Horenstein/BBC Legends 8,9 here with great performances of each symphony........an essential purchase for any Bruckner collector.

The Horenstein BBC Legends are indeed tremendous.

Has anyone out there ever heard Horenstein's Bruckner 7? It's an unbelievably early recording he made when he was Furtwangler's assistant in Berlin, around 1928. (Maybe the first commercial Bruckner symphony recording?) Koch put it out on CD around 1992 or so and kept it in the catalogue for all of about 30 minutes before deleting it. I had the opportunity to buy it once, and passed it up for something else... and have never seen it again. I did not realize at that time that there are no surviving later recordings of it by Horenstein. (Did he even continue to conduct it?) In truth, it would probably be Horenstein before he really got the grip you start to hear in some of the Vox recordings (Compare, for instance, his solid but not terribly distinctive Schubert 5 and Haydn 94, also from the Berlin period), and the recorded sound would probably be pretty dire anyway. But, dang it, I'd just be curious to hear it at least once!

Mark

 

[DarkAngel]

Wand......better than I remembered.

Last few days have been listening to my Wand collection of Bruckner CDs, just got the live Lubeck cathedral 8,9 from late 1980s and already have 4,7,8,9 BPO from late 1990s and I have to upgrade my estimation of his overall standing. I find Wand to be similar to Karajan in style with a smooth majestic blended approach vs the more accentuated tempos of Jochum and others. I am hearing new illuminated details that previously escaped my attention, gives me a richer more involved experience than previously.

The RCA sound for BPO is also very rich and glowing which naturally compliments these works. It is also possible that hearing many other sets and then coming back to Wand has deepened my appreciation for them.......the quest continues

 

[eyeresist]

Yes, I think Wand should probably be classed somewhere near Karajan, though his conducting has less ego to it.


Further to my recent purchase of Wand's B8, this is not part of his complete Cologne set but a live 1971 performance with the Cologne Guerzenich Orchestra (on Scribendum). Swifter and more extrovert than his later work, with lines shaped and passionate but well-fitted into the overall structure, obviously the work of a great conductor.

Caveat: the orchestra isn't top-notch (has anyone heard of them before?); in particular, the brass have a "bleating" quality, but they don't lack power and enthusiasm, and the ensemble is precise. The audience is very well-behaved - I only heard one cough.

The main warning I must give is about the sound quality. While the orchestral balance is very good, the recording has been strongly noise-reduced (possibly from an amateur recording of the broadcast?), resulting in a strangely constricted, unrealistic tonality. Also, during quiet moments, "churning" and "spangling" artifacts can be heard. I would rather have had a slight background hiss than these degradations of the sound. It's listenable, but certainly not recommendable to audiophiles.

This CD has peaked my interest in Wand's Cologne set - if only it was available at a reasonable price!

 

[Tyson]

DA,
In light of your recent re-appreciation of Wand (and your continued admiration of Celi and Guilini), you should re-listen to Tintner with an open mind. These are incredibly spiritual performances, patient and wise.