To many, this performance will be a disappointment.
John Austin | Kangaroo Ground, Australia | 06/26/2001
(3 out of 5 stars)
"In 1947 Bruno Walter wrote, "As long as I can lift a baton I shall continue to conduct the work of Mahler and Bruckner. I consider it to be one of my life's tasks to uncover the sources of exultation flowing from their music". Well, here is the great conductor, a year or so before he was no longer able to lift a baton, uncovering the sources of exultation flowing from Bruckner's E Major Symphony. Music lovers will be familiar with the miracles of performance, recording and remastering that derive from Bruno Walter's retirement years in California. To many, this Bruckner recording will therefore be a disappointment. Where there ought to be tension, there is listlessness. Where there should be fervour, there is passivity. Listen to the entry of the strings, for example, half a minute into the Adagio movement. What can seem so emotion charged and heart wrenching when other conductors are in charge, especially in live performance, passes here almost for nothing. I have collected almost every performance Bruno Walter prepared for recording, but I suggest that music lovers who want a strongly recommended Bruckner Seventh look elsewhere."
Anton Bruckner Symphony 7-Bruno Walter
Doug Rea | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | 06/22/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"In Bruno Walters' "Indian Summer" with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra, I am so very thankfull that the great conductor recorded Anton Bruckners' magnificent, stirring Seventh Symphony. Bruckners' Seventh could rightly be called "The Symphony of Nature", as to my mind, it recalls the beauty of walking through a forest, or climbing a scenic mountain on a bright summers day. It is no wonder that Walter captures this like no other conductor, as he felt most strongly that a good conductor needs to be one who is in tune with nature and can well appreciate her beauty.
Conductor and work are at one in this Bruckner Seven, demonstrating a mastery of detail co-existing with a thick, dense texture which adheres to the composers' intentions. The crisp, stereo sound is a delight, and satisfies both intellect and spirit in the great way Bruno Walters' Bruckner can. This Seventh is much more to the point than many I have heard, and is wrongly underrated and overlooked by many a Brucknerian. Conductors like Bohm, Klemperer and Jochum could well have learned a great deal had they been influenced by this superior effort. I highly recommend this recording to someone wanting to understand Bruckner-it is accessible without sacrificing depth and complexity."
Track Listings (4) - Disc #1