Search - Anton Bruckner, Osmo Vänskä, Glasgow BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra :: Bruckner: Symphony 3

Tremendous, Outstanding

Scott D. Harris | Chattanooga, TN | 06/03/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For anyone interested in Anton Bruckner's symphonies, this disc is a must hear. With this performance Osmo Vanska introduces himself as potential new member to the ranks of the greatest Bruckner conductors.The opening violins immediately establish the tension which Vanska builds to the first impressive climanx of sound - this is the harbinger of what is to come for the rest of the disc. In terms of tempi, Vanska is middle of the road and he is clearly not a stop-and-go Bruckner conductor. Everything flows with a basic underlying pulse. The BBC Scottish Orchestra acquits itself well, perhaps slightly light in string tone, but the brass are quite solid. The trombone and horn sections deserve special kudos. The venue is St. Mary's Church, Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland. The engineer is Tony Faulkner. Hyperion have gotten what I consider to be the ideal Bruckner sound - this was recorded in what sounds like a moderately large church; there is a small amount of reverb and you can hear proper "distancing" of the instruments, but the microphones are fairly close, thus avoiding a wash of sound that drowns out individual sections, even at the tremendous climaxes. ... this is a great disc and will undoubtedly become one of the top recommendations for this work and stand alongside those of Karajan, Tintner, Celibidache and Eichhorn."