Search - Bruckner, Knappertsbusch :: Symphonies

Not An Ideal Set of Kna's Bruckner

Jeffrey Lipscomb | Sacramento, CA United States | 06/30/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"My Amazon review of this set's direct competitor, on the Music & Arts CD label, explores Knappertsbusch's superb way with Bruckner's symphonies at some length, so I will try to be more succinct here. Both sets feature "live" performances and offer the same readings of Symphonies 5 & 7, and different accounts of 3, 4, 8 and 9. To my mind, the M & A set has made better choices: Melodram's 4 & 8 are both lumbering accounts, while its 9 is fast and ill-played. If I had to choose between the two sets, I would most definitely opt for the M & A, which also has very well written and perceptive notes by Bruckner scholar Mark Kluge.



However, ALL of the Music and Arts - and most of the Melodram accounts - are available elsewhere in better sound. I feel taking that route - acquiring separate issues in the best possible sonics - is the most sensible way to go. Here is a summary of the Melodram set's contents and my suggestions for better alternatives.



#3. Munich Phil. 1964: This is a fine reading - it can also be had on Living Stage 1003. M & A chose my favorite - the more dramatic 1962 NDR Hamburg account - which is in better sound on Tahra 132/135.



#4. Vienna Phil. 1964: This 4th, at 72:11, is Kna's slowest version. The better 1944 Berlin Phil. account on M & A comes in at 60:37 (and is available in clearer sound on deleted Tahra 320/322). Kna's 1955 studio account with the VPO is the best-played and best-recorded (Testament). All of these use the heavily cut and re-orchestrated 1888/89 edition (also used by Furtwangler, Matacic, Steinberg and Naito). The live 2005 Naito (Delta) is the finest stereo account.



#5. Munich Phil. 1959: M & A's set offers this same reading, and both feature cloudy and distorted sound. However, M&A later obtained a better tape and has issued it (M&A CD 1105) in FAR better sound. Kna stuck to the end with Schalk's heavily cut/re-orchestrated version, so it shouldn't be your only 5th. I would go for M&A's new mastering and put it along side one of several great accounts of Bruckner's original (Rosbaud, Konwitschny, Furtwangler, Schuricht, and Horenstein are my favorites).



#7. Vienna Phil. Salzburg 1949: This is the same in both sets and is one of Kna's greatest performances. It can be heard in considerably better sound on CDs from Preiser and Orfeo.



#8. Vienna Phil. 1961: This lethargic, ill-recorded account is inferior to M & A's 1951 Berlin Phil. (available in superior sound on Tahra 207/8). I am also fond of the slow but very expressive 1963 Munich Phil. stereo version now on DG Westminster.



#9. 1958 Bavarian State Orch: This is also on a single CD (M & A 896). It's by far Kna's fastest account and it features some rather sub-par playing. For me, Kna's finest version - with its more spacious Adagio - is the 1950 Berlin Phil. on Tahra 208. Again, Kna uses a "corrupt" edition (the 1903 Loewe), so this should be supplemented by what is, to my ears, the work's greatest-ever performance: the 1944 Furtwangler/Berlin Phil. on M&A 730. In more modern sound, I can enthusiastically recommend the recordings by Schuricht (EMI), Asahina (Canyon) and Matacic (Supraphon).



Knappertsbusch was one of Bruckner's finest interpreters. Your enjoyment of his performances will surely be enhanced by exploring his most persuasive readings in the best possible sound. Thus I would pass on this Melodram set and seek out instead the alternatives cited above."