Bruckner: Symphony No.4 |
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Artist:
Wiener Philharmoniker Karl Böhm
Average Customer Rating:  
List Price: £9.99
Our Price: £6.07
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0028947584032
Label: Universal Classics
Manufacturer: Universal Classics
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Universal Classics
Release Date: 2007-03-19
Running Time: 68
Studio: Universal Classics |
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Disc 1:
| 1. 1. Bewegt, nicht zu schnell | | 2. 2. Andante quasi allegretto | | 3. 3. Scherzo (Bewegt) - Trio (Nicht zu schnell. Keinesfalls schleppend) | | 4. 4. Finale (Bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell) |
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LIVES UP TO ITS BILLING, 2007-11-08
Sometimes everything just clicks. It all goes right on the night. All the careful preparation is realised in performance. The conductor's private vision is perfectly transmitted to and by the orchestra before him. The soloists' most felicitous phrases gel ideally with the conductor's large-scale interpretation of the work.
This was just such a performance - or rather a set of recording sessions. Bohm was certainly well versed in the Bruckner canon, but he was not one of those `core' Bruckner conductors like Jochum and Wand or even Furtwangler and Knappertsbusch. Recordings also exist of him conducting Symphonies 3, 5, 7 and 8 as well as other readings of the Fourth, but none of them are really in the class of this performance, fully worthy of Decca's `Legend' moniker emblazoned on the jewel case. Perhaps it's better not to speculate about why it all worked so well at those sessions, but just to rejoice that it did and relish the results.
`Romantic' was Bruckner's own soubriquet for his Fourth. It certainly stands apart from most of the rest of the canon in its freshness, its sense of the Austrian countryside and indeed of Austrianness in general. It doesn't seek to explore the construction and structure of a symphony in the way the 5th or the 8th do, nor to plumb the spiritual depths of the 8th or 9th. Bruckner's programmatic descriptions for his Fourth conjure up a medieval world of forests, birdsong, hunting expeditions and knightly derring-do. That's not to say it is not constructed with much thought through seven years of the usual Brucknerian overhauls, including three different Finales. Its form is certainly a lot more tightly organised than its predecessor, the Wagnerian 3rd. But its character is, perhaps, more simply approachable than the other symphonies.
For this recording, Bohm was at the head of the greatest Austrian orchestra - at the time, arguably the world's greatest orchestra - the Vienna Philharmonic. And the rapport between them seems almost tangible. Certainly their distinctive sound with its rich string tone, its unique French Horns and full brass sound suits this music to a T. One always seems to sense Bruckner, the organist, behind the tiered orchestration he employs, often using the different sections - strings, woodwind, brass - to produce separately coloured blocks of sound layered on top of each other. The Vienna Philharmonic of 1973 seem the perfect instrument to realise this sound. That horn sound is glorious thoughout and the woodwind playing here is exceptional, too.
As to Bohm's interpretation, he really understands the Austrian heart of this music. His tempi are relaxed but never sluggish. Bruckner felt it necessary to qualify the tempo markings in every movement - the first's allegro is nicht zu schnell (not too fast): so is the Finale's: the slow movement is Andante, but quasi allegretto: and the Scherzo's Trio is marked nicht zu schnell again. Bohm observes all this, allowing the music room to breathe while always sustaining momentum. The pacing and placing of Bruckner's huge climaxes is always spot-on. And he fully understands exactly where the highest point of each movement should be - he doesn't play all his cards too early: the climaxes are `scaled' to retain a meaningful shape to each movement and to the whole symphony.
This is definitely a disc that merits the title Legendary. And at a bargain price. What more encouragement should you need?
 It's a good way of entering Bruckner's world, but please try other doors, 2008-11-14
This is a very good recording: the sound is one of the best I know, a result of the 70s Decca efforts (even today they're impossible to match in clarity and strength).
Böhm is an eminent Brucknerian: his 7th (Audite and DG) are milestones, and he delivered a very authoritarian 8th. However, this is the only evidence of this recording: everything is clear, stressed, tuned. It's a clean reading, underlined in the essential. You can feel overwealmed by Bruckner's cathedrals of sound, that Böhm can build. This performance is a close and efficient reading, but it is not an interpretation in the sense it can give you a personal and dinamically new approach.
But if you want to be bewitched by the iniciatic journey that this Symphony suggests; if you want to be submerged by this river of Austrian melodies, converging to a center powerfully bursting of energy, this is not your recording. Try Klemperer (Medici), Furtwängler (Music and Arts), Jochum (DG) or Celibidache (EMI). And leave Böhm to the 7th.
Still the top of the mountain, 2007-08-29
A recent well-known British music magazine sought to expose 50 "unknown" recordings. Its discoveries included the Eugene Ormandy-Philadelphia Orchestra rendition of the Bruckner Symphony No. 4, subtitled "Romantic", among its hidden gems. It is available on a low-priced Sony disk. In his note, the critic included a not too veiled criticism of this recording, saying the Ormandy showed off all the instruments while this one homogenized the affair.
While it was nice to learn someone in England appreciates Ormandy, I can't agree with that assessment, principally because most people that love and understand Bruckner -- including me -- have graded the Bohm-Vienna Philharmonic recording as one of the best Bruckner 4ths in history. This recording has been considered de rigeur for more than 30 years and its new packaging, low price and upgraded sound all enhance that reputation.
The accoldaes bestowed on this rendition have traversed both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. In its most recent Bruckner overview, American Record Guide graded Bohm No. 1 in both Symphonies 3 & 4, noting his "unforced naturalness". Gramophone magazine has recommended this recording above all other Bruckner 4s since its 1973 release. This recording continues to be the most Viennese sounding Bruckner "Romantic" symphony available allied with an unerring sense of inevitability that makes it an all-encompassing Bruckner experience.
In England you can buy this as part a two-CD set mated with Bohm's even more outstanding version of Bruckner's Symphony 3, which is sometimes called his "Wagner" symphony because of its use of repeated themes in the brass. I wouldn't want to be without this two-CD set at my house. If you love Bruckner, you shouldn't either. Even if you don't love Bruckner, you shouldn't be without this recording.
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