Search - Anton Bruckner, Herbert von Karajan, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra :: Bruckner: Symphony No. 7

Sublime!

Bruce Hodges | 09/03/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The very last Karajan recordings, like this one, and the last 3rd and 4th Brahms symphonies ( also first released in 1989 ), present a whole new Karajan. Not so ambitious of proving to everybody he's the very best, and not so technical-perfection minded anymore, Karajan lets the music speak for itself, without forcing any extra energy on it, and the result is sheer beauty, of the kind we rarely find in any kind of art work, something that really takes you to other worlds, with mountains of beauty and erupting emotions. And it's a totaly new kind of beauty, not usually found in Karajan's earlier recordings. This recording is invaluable for any music lover, and a must for any Karajan admirer."

A "farrewell" recording but not conducted that way

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 11/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Reviewers here treat this Bruckner Seventh, which was released posthumously after Karajan's death in 1989, as if it foreshadows his passing. But this isn't a slow or reflectively melancholy reading--in fact, the first movement is quicker (if only marginally) than any of Karajan's two previous recordings for EMI and DG, both with the Berlin Phil. By comparison, the Vienna Phil. sounds sweeter, never bombastic, incapable of a brash phrase. The recordidng sounds so alive and present that one could swear this was a live performance, but apparently it wasn't. In any case, the orchestra is more animated and fresher sounding than on Karajan's two previous readings.



The conductor always favored whispering pianissimos and thunderous, though controlled, fortissimos. Here those contrasts are reduced; the music tends to stay in an average range until a climactic swell is called for. This evenness of tone gives the music a flowing quality, which is enhanced by Karajan's refusal to use the start-and-stop phrasing so common with other conductors in Bruckner. The great slow movement is especially free and spontaneous, not at all funereal even if the composer was aware of Wagner's recent death. This memorial to his greatest hero is sublime rather than grieving.



With so many special qualities, it's hard not to declare that this is Karajan's greatest Bruckner Seventh recording. In terms of freshness and a singing line, only the live Giulini performance from London (on BBC Legends) comes close to it in my experience. Highly, highly recommended.



P.S. May, 2009 - for anyone who's interested, I've added a more detailed comparison among Karajan's three Bruckner Sevenths in the comments section."