Search - Bruckner, Chailly, Rso Berlin :: Symphony #7

Thank you for the full price, Decca !

N. Daniele Pietro | Milano, MI Italy | 03/23/2000

(1 out of 5 stars)

"The one above shown is not a rating of the performance , which has been widely praised for both interpretation and sound, but it's a rating of Decca' behavior. This is a reissue of a mid-80's release with an updated, glossy booklet, astutely echoingthe graphics of the recent 6th with the Concertgebouw ! Even worse, it was already re-issued in the budget series Eclipse (around 7 $!) AND with a Mahler fill-up. That series has widely circulated in Europe but I have to admit that I don't know if it was ever issued in the US. Still, if this is an example of the label policies now that Decca has been taken over by Universal Music, well, bad times are coming."

The Challenges of Anton Bruckner

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 02/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Anton Bruckner is one of several composers of serious symphonies who have endured a checkered legacy. For those who submit to Bruckner's gargantuan, at times bumbling, but at all times deeply moving spiritual symphonies (and I admit to being in that group), then there cannot be enough recordings of his symphonies. This recording of the 7th is among the finest for many reasons, not the least of which is the overall arching concept of the work by Riccardo Chailly and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra as recorded in 1985. The Sonics are rich and full and the orchestral sound is particularly fine.



For those who like to champion isolated recordings of the 'definitive reading' then they will have problems with this CD. No, Chailly does not have the majestic poetry that the sadly deleted Giulini recording with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra had, nor does it probe the depths in the manner of Furtwangler or Walter. But in those recordings the overall effect is one of bigger than life scale. Chailly pays more attention to the little things that make this symphony different.



But then perhaps having just heard the masterfully played performance with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the acoustic marvel that is Disney Hall has opened these ears to the magic that CAN be made of Bruckner's endlessly stop/start lines, crescendoing climaxes that could lead to aborted thuds were it not for the sensitivity of the details being drawn during these moments of tension - details that like puzzle pieces explain just why Bruckner's symphonies do make solid sense despite the numerous 'revisions' to which the composer was subject. Salonen is the only conductor I know who can make all of the inner voices sing in a way that the whole is a splendid cohesion of all of the parts.



Having heard these referenced details for the first time, I can return to this Chailly recording with a greater appreciation for his accomplishment. Not that it is nearly as illuminating as what Salonen can achieve, but until Salonen records the 7th this performance is among the best. Grady Harp, February 2005"

Cosmic Performance

ludwig | Mexico | 01/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This the only performance I know that preserves the Cosmic breath that is supposed to be in Bruckner's Music.

I knew Chailli's performance in 1985, and after 20 years and many other conductors, I'm still thinking this is the reference recording. (I also have Wand,Rattle,Karajan (2),Giulini,Jochum,Masur Tintner, this is one of my favorite Sympnoies).

Note the stunning codas in the first and forth movements,



I'm an Astronomer, and when I hear this performance, I always imagine Galaxies Supernovas ,Quasars and stuff like that, maybe is a proffesional deviation.



(forgive my english , in not my native language)







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