Search - a. Bruckner :: Sym 4 7 8/9

Caveat Emptor!

Andre Gauthier | 10/07/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This is a bargain at first glance. However, don't be duped into paying any more than you possibly have to (I see its online for as much as 40 which is ridiculous.) Why? The performance of the 4th by Bohm is from 1936 and is quite good. It has been and is available seperately on many other labels so check to see that you don't already have it. The noise reduction is excessive to say the least. Akin to listening over the telephone, this CD is lacking most of the upper frequencies. It sounds more like a clock radio than a real recording.



Both the Eighth and the Ninth are with Furtangler. They are old standards, there's no hidden treasure here. Of course he only made the one recording of the 9th in 1944 with Vienna, again it is overly processed. The Eighth is a 1944 Berlin recording - possibly. It has reverb added, as well as pitch problems, which makes for a suspicious origin. Its sad that the producer couldn't just leave these recordings alone, noise and all. They are fabulous in their own right, but have been screwed around with so badly that the engineering becomes a cause unto itself.



If all I've said weren't bad enough then comes the 7th with Rosbaud in what the label, Designo calls "stereo". OYE!@. It is possibly the single worst release of this dull performance from 1957 . The reason is that its only in stereo when only some of the original tape matches that specification: two separate, discreet channels. Most of the time stereo is not evident. Sometimes the music comes only from the left speaker, others the right. There are a few moments of real stereo; but in the midst of those, idiotically, somebody is "panning" left and right channels to the center. They move slowly to the center becoming dead center mono - all during a long phrase in the slow movement. This CD is literally strung together from what I think are separate dates and venues. The recording apparently matches other releases of Rosbauds early stereo version of the 7th. But I would almost bet that this has been cobbled together from outtakes of the original sessions. Sometimes various instruments don't play when they should making it sound as though a sectional rehearsal is taking place. The edits call so much attention to themselves that I can't concentrate on Bruckner or the performance itself. Its a horror show. If you collect the worst CDs ever made (some people like that sort of thing) then here is a gold mine.



The box is another stupid idea. When standing on end it is more than twice the height of a single CD box. It is made of cardboard with plastic insterts and opens like a book. CDs 1 and 3 are placed above and below - on the other side you have 2 and 4 in the same configuration. The vanilla notes are pasted on a flap that folds inside. I'd like to ask the brilliant people at Designo just how they store their copies? Amongst their books?? It certainly won't fit among your regular CDs if you store them in any logical manner. I think this would be something worth buying for five dollars. If you pay more than that, my title immediately comes into effect.



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