SearchsearchUseruser

Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 - Wand

Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 - Wand

RCA  BVCC-38389/90 (2 discs)

Stereo/Multichannel Hybrid

Classical - Orchestral


Bruckner: Symphony No. 8

Berliner Philharmoniker
Günter Wand (conductor)

Support this site by purchasing from these vendors using the paid links below.
As an Amazon Associate HRAudio.net earns from qualifying purchases.

bol.com
CDJapan
 
 

Add to your wish list | library

 

9 of 9 recommend this, would you recommend it?  yes | no

All
show
Reviews (1)
show
hide

Review by John Broggio - January 28, 2007

This is a superlative account of a great symphony from the Berliners under Wand, with a pretty fine recording to reflect the glory of the concerts from which this performance came.

After extensive listening to this set, Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 - Haitink and also Karajan's last version with the VPO (also available as a fascinating DVD), one is in a position to say how good this account might be considered - very!

The accounts from the three (old, wise) men differ extract different sonorities from their orchestras - Karajan's is sweet (with plangent oboes) but powerful, Haitink's is urbane and polite, Wand's is muscular and intense. This does not suffer from the feeling (as some earlier issues from BPO/Wand occasionally can) that the orchestra is searching for a corporate identity - this was coming to the end of an intense period of change within the personnel of the Berliners; many of the old guard in the principal woodwinds had taken their final bows and the strings sections were undergoing a renewal. In many ways, this and the companion issues show how the corporate mentality of the Berliners changed under Abbado yet still retaining their unique qualities.

Whilst the Berliners deploy their vast tonal resources, there is no sluggishness in the tempi except perhaps for the Trio of the Scherzo where it occasionally feels like a mini adagio! Wand is largely content to let the music speak for itself and steers a middle ground between the visionary Karajan and the unaffected Haitink. Once or twice, one feels that a slightly greater hiatus here or there might convey more emotion but this a minor quibble. Whilst it may seem to contradict the previous sentence, there are times where I wish Wand would manage to maintain a steadier pulse, at which Karajan is unsurpassed, as there are the odd phrase where it almost drags but fortunately not quite! This is a performance which gathers momentum and strength as it progresses, so that the finale is absolutely overwhelming.

As good as the opening movement and the allegro might be, it is the adagio and the finale that really capture ones imagination. The pulsating throbs that sob underneath the elegiac statement provide a tangible sense of grief - perhaps the Berliners realised these were to be their last concerts with Wand; the climax is truly staggering. On a purely technical matter, this issue might be preferred by many to the Haitink as the last two movements are grouped on the second disc rather than having to break the spell as one does with the RCO Live version. And what a last movement we are given - just sample the orchestral response to the recapitulation of the opening and the injection of spirit that Wand imparts from 14'30 onwards; absolutely every member is playing out of their skin in a way that only this orchestra can manage.

The 5.1 recording has a great deal of detail present and accurately reflects the depth of tone that the Berliners possess as well as representing the Philharmonie in a most realistic manner; sadly Wand did not elicit such a wide range of dynamic as others have & do but there is still plenty to go around. There are moments when the odd cough adds some audience "participation" but these are very few and far between - impressively so for January! The applause has been excised but not in a cavalier fashion.

It is expensive for the majority of people not in Japan to be able to get hold of this but the BPO are desperately under-represented and they do play like the gods that they are capable of being, so whilst it is costly it is also pretty much obligatory as a memento of their homage to Bruckner and that great Brucknerian, Gunter Wand.

(Purchased)

Copyright © 2007 John Broggio and HRAudio.net

Performance:

Sonics (Multichannel):

stars stars