Search - Anton Bruckner, Klaus Tennstedt, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra :: Bruckner: Symphonies 4 & 8

Vigorous, often joyful Bruckner from Tennstedt

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 04/24/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've come to believe that Klaus Tennstedt's best recordings derive from live concerts; the ones issued by BBC Legends and Profil have been revelatory. Tennstedt fought cancer for a decade before he finally succumbed, and his variable health accentuated a personality that had its demons--like Carlos Kleiber, Tennstedt could balk at the last minute about even going on stage. I hoped he was having good days when I bought this Gemini twofer. For me, the special attraction is the 1982 Bruckner Eighth, since I was already satisfied with his live Fourth on the house label of the London Phil.



As things unfolded, the Eighth wasn't the main achievement, good as the performance is. At 75 min., it's a full 8 min. faster than Harnoncourt's excellent recording on Teldec; Tennstedt shows more impetuosity than Harnoncourt. The opening bars of the first movement prowl into the room, and the climaxes are explosive. Becasue they were his orchestra, the London Phil. always played with commitment for Tennstedt, as they do here. Textures are roughter than you will hear in Karajan's famous Eighth with the Vienna Phil., or Boulez's with the same orchestra (both on DG). Karajan could create an amazing arc of intensity throughout the slow movement. Here, Tennstedt follows the norm, which is to build from a fairly relaxed basis.



He's never as masterful in his control as Karajan-- in an effort to be spontaenous, he sometimes rushes, and the reading becomes too cursory--but it was Tennstedt's way to improvise, making the phrasing sound free. He produces a lovely, dreaming Adagio. His view of the finale is not as apocalyptic as most other verions, so don't expect thunderous timpani thwacks and Judgement Day brass attacks. In its lower key way, this version is quite beautiful. The Nowak edition is used, for those who pay attention to texts.



The Fourth Sym. dates from 1981, an era when the Berlin Phil. under Karajan was an exemplar of power, refinement, and execution. They don't sound that way under Tennstedt, though. He doesn't exactly apply sandpaper to the lacquer veneer; it's more a matter of wanting a looser, less regimented sound. Overall timing is slowish at 70 min., but this blends a measured first movement and a fast Scherzo. The live LPO reading issued last year feels more rambunctious--to the point that The Gramophone critic dismissed it as no better than an energetic run-through--yet the scarcely more restrained Berlin recording feels just as much like an event. Its constant intensity and impetus made a strong impression on me, like the Fourths from Karajan (his EMI one being a fraction better recorded than the one included in DG's complete cycle), Harnoncourt (Teldec), and the live Klemperer from Bavaria (EMI). But Tennstedt is more personal and spontaneous than any of them, so I will keep returning avidly for more listenings.



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Great Bruckner

Hegelian | Concord, MA USA | 03/27/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Both of these performances are terrific, especially the 8th. Tennstedt's scherzo, which places special emphasis on the brass, is the best of all recordings of the 8th I've encountered. He doesn't provide quite the shimmering luminosity in the slow movement, which Karajan excelled at, but the movement (and the performance as a whole) is more spontaneous. Tempos seem slow in the 4th, especially at the beginning, but that makes for good results. The last movement of the 4th is a powerhouse in this performance. Altogether, an outstanding disc.

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