Search - Bruckner, Knappertsbusch, Berlin Po :: Symphony 8 & 9

Cathedrals in Sound

Thomas F. Bertonneau | Oswego, NY United States | 10/03/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"These Bruckner performances under Hans Knapperstbusch have appeared elsewhere (separately, for example, on CDs from Music and Arts), but these are the best remasterings yet, slightly on the expensive side, but worth the outlay. The sources are tapes of concerts, made by West German Radio, intended for later playback; the technical level is good early fifties monophonic sound, here mined by the remastering supervisor to extremely good effect. In both instances, the acoustic is fairly reverberant and the sense of the orchestra fairly immediate. And it's the Berlin Philharmonic, after all. They had played both these symphonies many times under Furtwangler and Knappertsbusch and many others. "Kna's" Bruckner resembles Furtwangler's, very improvistory in feeling, deeply probing in the adagio movements, mystical in atmosphere. The Ninth especially in the reading presented here ascends from the despair of the first movement and the demon-haunted scurryings of the scherzo to heavenly, timeless, illumination in the final pages of the mighty adagio-finale. These are good recorded performances for someone looking to add a historical dimension to a set of more recent, stereophonic, Bruckner symphonies."

Bruckner at his finest

Jeffrey Lee | Asheville area, NC USA | 06/24/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Among other things, my recent retirement has given me an opportunity to return to and seek out marvelous recordings from the past. Currently, I'm experiencing a significantly richer, almost inspiring sense of appreciation of Bruckner's major symphonies. This is attributed partially to a re-discovery, but mainly to a new discovery of interpretations by Hans Knappertsbusch. For some time I have enjoyed particularly Eugen Jochum's DG Bruckner set as well as individual recordings by Schuricht, Van Beinum, Klemperer and Bohm. But these readings of the Bruckner Eighth and Ninth are just about the most soul satisfying I have ever heard. They seem to journey to a time long ago, and to bring me as close as I have ever been to the essence of Bruckner. Knappertsbusch is especially effective at displaying expansiveness, luminosity and caring detail. One of the many things I enjoy is the manner in which he consistently elevates and draws out the high strings so as to heighten the lyrical and majestic elements as well as the way the sound engineers capture these moments in helping to impart a greater feeling of mystery and grand scale. That these are mono recordings matters not one whit. The sound is very nice and the interpretations are memorable. If you are a Bruckner lover I recommend you grab recordings like these as soon as you can, since they might not be readily available for too much longer. They are absolute treasures. Furthermore, I believe no one will ever conduct Bruckner like this again."