Search - Anton Bruckner, Dennis Russell Davies, Bruckner Orchester Linz :: Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 "Romantic"

A correction

Mike G. | Cincinnati, Ohio | 06/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The reviewer below is mistaken. This music WAS composed by Bruckner. The version Davies uses in this recording is the ORIGINAL 1874 version. Bruckner revised the symphony in 1878, thoroughly recrafting movements 1, 2, and 4 and writing an entirely new scherzo (the more popular 'hunting' scherzo). The finale was again revised in 1880, and this version, together with the 1878 version of movements 1, 2, and 3, comprise the familiar 1878/80 version, which is performed most often today. Each of the two versions (1874 and 1878/80) has its strengths and shortcomings. Davies's performance makes an excellent justification for integrating the 1874 version more into the standard Bruckner canon. Tempos are moderate to quick - never dragging, but the characteristic Bruckner weight and volume of sound are present when called for. The Andante is the most different from other recordings I've heard of either version. It's very fast comparatively, felt in 2 instead of 4, like a stately dance.

Also check out Davies's recording of Symphony 8 (original 1887 version), which is equally as fascinating. For other versions of this 1874 version, try Inbal, Lopez-Cobos, Young, Nagano, or Norrington. Norrington's recording is the best of these, in my opinion. He integrates Bruckner's textures and sound colors much better than the others, and his orchestra has better technical precision as well."

Very Interesting -OK live Recording

Timothy Dougal | Madison, Wi United States | 03/26/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a recording of Bruckner's first version of his 4th symphony, completed in 1874. It's the only one of this version I have heard, but it sure has my attention. Despite the large amount of shared thematic material between this and the more familiar revised version of the 4th, in many ways it is nearly a different symphony, extremely Wagnerian and fatefully tempestuous. The scherzo and finale are extremely different. The Linz Orchestra performs well, if a little loosely at times. Dennis Russell Davies conducts energetically and doesn't drag anything out as conductors often do with Bruckner. The sound seems a little compressed, kind of like a radio broadcast. The audience is very quiet and there is no applause. The only time thing that seems a little odd is that the editor leaves in the shuffling several seconds in between the movements when the orchestra resettles itself. Someday I would hope to hear a similarly vigorous, but better recorded version of this work."

Classics Today Had This To Say

Record Collector | Mons, Belgium | 04/06/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Conducting an ensemble named the "Bruckner Orchestra Linz" at a venue called the "Brucknerhaus" in live concert in the 2003 Bruckner Festival, Dennis Russell Davies pretty much had to deliver a high quality performance of this favorite Bruckner symphony. He exceeded this expectation by a wide margin, turning in a distinguished performance that demands comparison with the classic 1973 Karl Böhm/Vienna Philharmonic recording. A very special performance, the VPO deployed its unique brass sonority as the support pillars of a massive sonic edifice, just right for Bruckner's final version of the Fourth (Nowak edition). The 1874 original version recorded in this Arte Nova release (also edited by Nowak) has a quite different general mood from its later incarnation (Bruckner had jettisoned the original scherzo, heard here, drastically recomposed the finale, and made notable changes in the first and second movements). The effect is that the rhythms in the original version are equally powerful but remain in fluid motion, the energy unleashed. (This is true even for the "treading" rhythm of the latter part of the second movement.)



The leaner, rhythmically incisive performance by Davies and the BOL is as well suited to Bruckner's first version as Böhm's is to the final one. The playing is solid; the string sound, while not ravishing, is firm yet flexible. The woodwinds are full of character, while the brass exhibit a very effective mixture of Austrian solidity and American brilliance.



The recording also is first rate. The audience is virtually silent; I didn't know it was there until I later read the recording notes. The natural concert-hall dynamics are impressive: from soft string tremolandos to flurries of brass, the range is wide but not exaggerated. Set your volume to achieve an audible opening and the loudest sound is not yet so loud that you have to turn it down to protect your ears and your lease. I saved one of the best things about this disc for last: It is on a super-budget label, yet is equal in every respect to the value of full-price discs. Serious Brucknerians must have the original version, and this is the one to get.

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