Search - Anton Bruckner, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Georg Tintner :: Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E major (ed. Haas) - Georg Tintner

WAGNER GOES TO CHURCH

DAVID BRYSON | Glossop Derbyshire England | 06/27/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is my own idea of how the Bruckner 7th should be done, but I ought to say at the outset that I am not a particular devotee of Bruckner. There is a kind of Wagner-meets-the-Pope feel about him, and that impression is particularly strong in the 7th. It is all very serious-minded and edifying, and I can honestly say that I enjoy Bruckner greatly by way of a change from the kinds of music I listen to more habitually. Tintner's `take' on him is serene rather than bombastic, and that is my own personal reason for preferring this performance to more intense renderings that may appeal more to some committed Brucknerians. The essence of Bruckner, to me, is innocence and not Angst. Tintner gives us his own view of the symphony in a liner-note that I found very interesting and rather touching too. Once again the keynote is earnest innocence. I learn, for instance, regarding the first movement that `...unexpectedly a third melody, very different from either the first or the second, appears like an austere rhythmic dance. With these three building blocks the composer gives us one of the loveliest first movements in all music'. Surely this is the right mindset for interpreting this composer, I thought to myself. I listened with placid contentment throughout as we crossed the wide symphonic meadows of the three main movements, and I put aside impious recollections of the gods entering Valhalla at the conclusion of each, hard though that sequence was to dispel from my mind each time. The slow movement in particular was to my liking taken at Tintner's comparatively flowing tempo, which I hope and believe manages to qualify as the composer's `sehr langsam'. The liner note is absolutely excellent, with short sections in English, German and French on the composer, the composition itself, the orchestra and the conductor. There is absolutely no reason why we should not be able to expect this on a budget label. In the course of his remarks on the symphony, Tintner naturally goes into the question of authenticity in the score, arguing in support of his adoption of the version by Robert Haas.The recorded sound is admirable, and it is an especial personal pleasure to me to hear how the orchestra from which I first heard the classical repertory has developed to the standard it has. In my early days Karl Rankl probably tried to do too much, but he left a fine legacy to Sir Alec Gibson who basically completed the work. They are not quite the LSO or the Chicago Symphony or what I am learning to call the Berliner Philharmoniker just yet, but it may be that they will yet get there. On purely musical grounds, given my attitude to Bruckner, this might well be my first choice among versions of the 7th. At this price there are no two ways about it."

No better Seventh than this!

Ralph J. Steinberg | New York, NY United States | 06/06/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Seventh is Bruckner's most popular work and the most recorded of his symphonies. The heart of the work is the Adagio, that great memorial to Richard Wagner which Bruckner composed in anticipation of Wagner's passing. Superficially, Tinter takes a more rapid tempo in this movement than others do, Jochum, Furtwaengler, and Karajan, to mention a few. However, the movement does not come off rushed or glossed over at all. Quite the contrary: There is an urgency and passion that is very becoming to this music. I have recommended the entire set of Tinter's Bruckner Symphonies, and this particular symphony is just as gloriously performed as the others in the set."

A Seventh that reaches for the heart rather than the stars.

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 06/03/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A first listen to Georg Tintner's 1997 Bruckner Seventh comes as something of a shock. In music where other conductors work to impose themselves on every phrase, Tintner hardly shapes the line at all. Where others try for cosmic climaxes and rich chocolate sonority, Tintner is content to give us less. His Royal Scottish orchestra doesn't pretend to be the Berlin Phil, and their modesty suits Tintner's own.



As you keep listening, this reading sounds more and more genuine. It really helps t love a composer without smothering him with reverence. Tintner's Seventh is affectionate, and it's allowed to breathe. Be prepared for sosme clunky rhythms and four-square phrases. Each cadence definitely starts and stops. But within those limits, it's gratifying to hear Bruckner in a gentler, more humanized mode. Tintner reaches for the heart rather than the stars."