Search - Anton Bruckner, Peter Jan Marthe, European Philharmonic Orchestra :: Anton Bruckner: Symphony 9 Reloaded

Interesting, but doubtful Bruckner would have done it this w

Gary E. Miller | 08/04/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I found this sprawling recreation of what Bruckner might have composed had he lived to complete his 9th symphony last movement quite interesting. However much of this reconstruction is based on Peter Jan Marthe's vision of what Bruckner had in mind rather than on what Bruckner was actually able to compose. In a recent season of the Houston Symphony Orchestra, conducter Hans Graf gave a wonderful perforance of the first three movements of the ninth, a performance of the Te Deum, and then a performance of each and every known fragment of the unfinished 4th movement, commenting on the presumed role of each in the overall construction. I am certainly not opposed to enjoying skilled completions of the works of major composers--Alfano and Puccini's Turandot (not Berio's!), the several efforts to complete Mahler's 10th, and Anthony Payne's version of the Elgar 3rd. But if one compares the Peter Jan Marthe version of the 4th movement of the 9th with those that adhere more closely to what Bruckner was actually able to complete, the latter sounds cleaner and more authentic. Hear, e.g, the Kurt Eichhorn version of the complete 9th with 4th movement reconstruction by Samale, Phillips and Mazzuca. One really has to strain in the Marthe version to hear the notes and chords composed by Bruckner, and they are too often submerged in the dense orchestraion. Nevertheless, can't say I didn't enjoy listening to this novel take on what Bruckner might have done. The philosophical meanderings in Peter Jan Marthe's program notes suggest that he might have heard the design for this movement in a dream, like Bruckner's tale of how he conceived the opening theme of the first movement of his 7th symphony."

Horrible Recording

Martin B. Haub | Gilbert, AZ, USA | 12/01/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I can't believe any Bruckner fan would give this more than one star. Heck, it really deserves negative stars. The finale is just ridiculous. Long, vulgar, incomprehensible. There are shades of, and stealing from, Mahler and a few others. The first three movements are SLOW, dull, and very, very poorly played. The tuning in the Wagner tubas is appalling! And the sound is bad -- the trumpets buried, climaxes so overloaded you can't hear much. This is a terrible recording and I'm shocked Preiser would release something this dreadful. Still, Bruckerites who must hear every conceivable finale will want this. But the price! Get it from eBay. Better yet, save your money and don't even consider it. Trust me, you will have lost nothing and saved 100 minutes of your life."

A Travesty of Bruckner

Frederick T. Williams | San Francisco, CA United States | 06/11/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Let's face it, one buys this recording for one reason alone: to hear the conductor's "completion" of the composer's unfinished last movement. Being a devout Brucknerian of almost 50 years standing, I am quite familiar with all the versions of all of Bruckner's symphonies, and all the completions of the unfinished last movement (specifically, by Carragan, Letocart, and Samale,Philips,Cohrs and Mazzuca). When it came time to listen to this one, I could barely stand to listen to the whole thing. It is a total travesty. Very little of Bruckner remains, from the very first notes to the end. I suspect the conductor takes psychadelic drugs -- that's about the only explanation I can come to based on his fervid liner notes and absurd, half-baked ideas about what Bruckner's music "means." By all means, if you really really want to hear this, buy it. But you'd be better off just sampling the other choices (especially Cohrs and Carragan). Or better yet -- stick to the three movement version. The composer never came close to finishing the fourth movement, and the symphony is overwhelmingly moving as is."