Search - Anton Bruckner, Hans Rosbaud, SWF Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden :: Bruckner: Symphony No. 5

Dignified Bruckner from Rosbaud

Johannes Climacus | Beverly, Massachusetts | 05/05/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This live performance of the Bruckner Fifth is offered on the Archipel label, which has a mixed reputation, to say the least, when it comes to sonics. The good news is that this broadcast material from 1953 has been preserved and remastered as well as can be expected. The sound is more ample in the first movement, then becomes increasingly dessicated with each succeding movement. But overall not too much patience is required to appreciate a superb peformance--indeed, one of the best I have have encountered of this score.



True to form, Rosbaud keeps a tight rein on tempo, texture, and articulation; not for him the maundering metaphysics of Celibidache (much though I enjoy a bit of maundering metaphysics from time to time). This is basically a classically-oriented performance, with clean lines and a minimum of agogic distortion or interpretive intervention. This symphony's monumental stature emerges as effectively as on Klemperer's EMI recording, though Rosbaud's greater mobility and lighter touch make even its purplest passages accessible. Not everyone will respond to Rosbaud's placing dignity ahead of apocalypticism, particularly in that gargantuan fugal finale, but the effect is refreshing--a cleansing of the Brucknerian palate after the relative heaviness of so many interpretations. The scorching intensity of Furtwängler's wartime performance remains, for me, the unapproachable criterion in this symphony, but Rosbaud's balance of elegance and rusticity is altogether disarming. A unique interpretation.



Every Brucknerian should hear this performance. Its greatness is evident from the first measure, and the Baden-Baden orchestra, which Rosbaud directed throughout the Fifties, play with flair and dedication. Perhaps another label will pick up this performance and refresh the sound beyond what Archipel has achieved, though their 24-bit remastering, as indicated above, is better than one might have expected from this label.



Urgently recommended."