Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
From the Archives, Volume 2
Mass No 2 in E minor, WAB 27 (1866, rev. 1882) ¹
Symphony in D minor, WAB 100 ‘Die Nullte’ (1869) (ed. Wöss)* ²
Symphony No 2 in C minor, WAB 102 (1872) (ed. Haas)* ³
Choir of St Hedwig’s Cathedral, Berlin ¹
Berlin Philharmonic/Karl Forster ¹
Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam/Eduard van Beinum ²
Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra/Georg Ludwig Jochum ³
rec. 1955-1962, recording locations provided in the review. AAD
*First release
Somm Recordings Ariadne 5027-2 [2 CDs: 130]
The first instalment of Somm Recordings’s projected six-volume series of archive Bruckner recordings contained some fascinating material (review). The principal emphasis was on music dating from 1862-63, as well as the First symphony (1866). This second volume takes us a little deeper into Bruckner’s career and it includes two live performances which have never before been issued commercially.
The E minor Mass, which is scored for 8-part chorus and an ensemble of brass and woodwind (two each of oboes, clarinets and bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones) is heard in a recording by the Choir of St Hedwig’s Cathedral, Berlin under Karl Forster (1904-1963). Forster was the choir’s conductor for nearly thirty years, from 1934 to 1963. The recording was made in June and July 1956 in the Wintergarten, Berlin. It was first released on the Electrola label; I don’t know if it has appeared previously on CD. The Mass was composed in 1866 but was then subject to revisions; I presume that Forster used the 1882 final version of the score, since that date is given in Somm’s track listing.
I think Forster conducts the work well and he gets a good response from his choir. The Kyrie moves from a mood of hushed humility up to a powerful plea for mercy; the music then retreats to the opening atmosphere. Rather curiously, Forster omits any intonation of the Gloria, so the movement starts rather abruptly (and incorrectly, in my view) with the choir singing the words ‘Et in terra pax’. The Credo is similarly treated. Once we’re past that little hiccup, though, the choir delivers the opening pages of the Gloria strongly. The gentler episode at ‘Qui tollis’ is sensitively done, but for most of this movement both music and performance are fervent. The Credo is also strongly projected at first, but the introspective section beginning at ‘Et incarnatus est’ offers good contrast. From ‘Et resurrexit’ onwards, the performance is full of enthusiasm. The performance of the Agnus Dei is very good; I appreciated the dynamic contrasts which Forster’s choir observes and they sing the music with sincerity and no little feeling.
This is a good account of the E minor Mass, which was well worth rescuing from the archives. There are one or two issues which need to be noted, however. I wish Somm had left slightly longer gaps between the movements; in particular, the gap between the end of the Credo and the start of the Sanctus is jarringly brief. The recording is good for its age and it has come up well in Lani Spahr’s remastering. However, he could do nothing about the fact that the Electrola engineers decided to balance the choir quite forwardly. Although that means that Bruckner’s choral writing can be heard clearly, there are two disadvantages: one is that the sound of the choir is a bit ‘in your face’; the other is that the instruments aren’t always heard as clearly as one would like. A few years later, DG’s engineers achieved a much more satisfactory balance on Eugen Jochum’s 1971 recording with the Bavarian Radio Chorus. Notwithstanding those caveats, the performance by Karl Forster and his accomplished choir is well worth hearing.
In his booklet essay, Benjamin Korstvedt points out that Bruckner suffered for a number of years from what he himself referred to as ‘melancholia’. By 1867 the condition had worsened to such a degree that Bruckner had some kind of crisis and he was treated for three months in a sanatorium. Happily, Bruckner emerged from the sanatorium in improved health and in 1868 he achieved his ambition to move to Vienna, accepting a post at the city’s Conservatory.
In the following year, inspired, one presumes, by better health and the confidence from his acceptance at the Conservatory, he began work on a symphony in D minor. Benjamin Korstvedt makes the important point that the numbering is misleading; this symphony postdates the C minor symphony (No 1) by some three years. Presumably, had circumstances worked differently, it would have been numbered as the composer’s Second symphony. Unfortunately, when Bruckner was able to get the work played through by the Vienna Philharmonic, it was rejected for public performances. This humiliation eventually – though not immediately – led Bruckner to “annul” the symphony, as he wrote in the score. The symphony lay unpublished until 1924, when it appeared in an edition by Joseph Venantius von Wöss; it was premiered that same year. Not until 1969 did a critical edition by Leopold Nowak appear. The present performance, conducted by Eduard van Beinum, therefore uses the Wöss edition. I have to say, I think it should be regarded as enterprising for van Beinum to programme this unfamiliar score by Bruckner just over 30 years after its publication.
This performance, given in the Concertgebouw on 11 March 1955, is preserved on a Netherlands Radio aircheck. The sound is fairly close – I had to reduce the volume level after playing the E minor Mass – but I found that my ears soon adjusted. Benjamin Korstvedt describes the conducting thus: “The tempos are generally brisk and [van Beinum’s] approach [is] refreshingly direct, at times unabashed in its ardour, keenly alive to the vigor of the music and hence quite far from the more reverential manner essayed by many later interpreters”. I think that’s a pretty fair summary of what I hear in this performance; the key words, I think, are “refreshingly direct”. The only thing I would add to Prof Korstvedt’s observations is to caution that no one should take an unintended inference that van Beinum underplays the lyrical side of the music. The other general observation I would make is that this performance shows the excellence of the Concertgebouw Orchestra under their chief conductor.
At the very start of the first movement, I had the impression of some momentary scrappiness in the playing, though I may be wrong about that; perhaps it’s just the nature of the writing. Whether I’m right or wrong, thereafter all is well. Van Beinum’s approach is energetic – which suits the music – but, as I suggested a moment ago, reflective passages (for example around 6:00) are well done. In this movement the composer is still clearly feeling his way towards what would become his mature style, but nonetheless, the music is recognisably by Bruckner. The slow movement is an Andante, not a full-blown Adagio. In the notes, we read that this movement “does not have the full measure of musical and emotional gravity [Bruckner] achieved in later works”. That’s a fair comment but, notwithstanding, it’s an attractive and well-conceived movement.
Van Beinum leads an eloquent performance, backed up by excellent orchestral playing. He takes a very swift approach to the Scherzo; the results are fiery when the brass section is involved. The genial Trio provides good contrast. The finale opens with what is, for Bruckner, an unusual, gentle introduction. The main body of the movement is an emphatically vigorous Allegro, though the second subject is broader and more lyrical; here, there’s eloquent playing from the string section. Overall, the movement has its rough edges, but it seems to me to be predictive of Bruckner’s later symphonic compositions. Interestingly, given the work’s rejection by the Vienna Philharmonic and Bruckner’s subsequent “annulment” of the score, there seems to be a fair degree of confidence in the writing; in fact, I’d say that of the symphony as a whole.
I think Van Beinum’s performance suggests that Bruckner was too harsh on himself when he annulled the D minor symphony. Perhaps if he’d revised it, as he was so prone to do with his later works, it might have been a different story. That said, it’s understandable that its rejection by the VPO must have been a crushing disappointment. I think van Beinum makes a strong case for the symphony, and the performance justifies the applause that we hear at the end.
In Volume 1 of this series, we heard a performance of the First symphony by the distinguished Brucknerian, Eugen Jochum. This new volume offers us a chance to hear an example of the work of his younger brother, Georg Ludwig Jochum (1909-1970). He leads the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra in the Second symphony. This recording is an aircheck of a broadcast of a performance given in the Sendesaal, WDR, Cologne in April 1962. I read in the notes that back in 1944, Georg Ludwig Jochum made a recording of this same symphony with the Reichs-Bruckner-Orchester, of which he was the chief conductor. Benjamin Korstvedt describes that 1944 traversal as “strikingly dramatic”; I wonder if it was the work’s first recording.
The Second symphony dates from 1872, but was later subject to various revisions in the 1870s. It was not published until 1892. The first critical edition was made by Robert Haas in the 1930s – it’s that edition which Jochum uses – with subsequent editions by Leopold Nowak and by the late William Carragan.
Jochum conducts the first movement very well; he imparts a good deal of energy and a consistent sense of purpose to the music. His direction is dynamic and it seems to me that he displays a firm grip on the structure. The orchestra is on excellent form; both the conducting and playing of this movement are impressive. The second movement is an Adagio, which is additionally marked Feierlich (solemnly). I was interested to read in the notes that among the revisions in the 1870s Bruckner changed the tempo marking from Adagio to Andante; the latter doesn’t seem to me to fit the character of the music and I presume that Haas reinstated the original marking. Jochum’s way with the music seems to me to respect the spirit of solemnity, yet he also keeps things moving forward, imparting a welcome sense of flow. I found him very convincing in his shaping of the music; this is the work of a seasoned Bruckner interpreter. The orchestra responds very well to his direction, nowhere more than in the coda, where I admired the sensitivity of the strings and the gently calling solo horn.
Benjamin Korstvedt refers to the “fearless intensity” of the Scherzo; that’s certainly the impression Jochum gives. The lightness of the Trio – both music and performance – offers good contrast; this episode is deftly played. The finale is very dynamic at first, though the second subject is elegant (1:33). I’m not sure that this movement quite hangs together, unlike the previous movements; to me, it seems episodic and, to be truthful, I found my attention wandering, even in this spirited performance. However, there’s no denying that Jochum obtains excellent results from the Cologne orchestra. Overall, this is a very good account of the Second symphony, which I’m glad to have heard, and the recording has come up well.
Indeed, Lani Spahr has worked his usual magic on these recordings. I’ve expressed minor reservations about the sound for the Mass and the ‘Nullte’ symphony. I’m certain that these are entirely connected to the original source material and thanks to Spahr’s skilful restoration work we can still enjoy and properly appreciate the performances. The sound in the Second symphony belies its more-than sixty-year age and the recording has come up very well. An excellent and extensive booklet essay by Benjamin Korstvedt sets the seal on the high production values of this set. The Mass text and translation are not printed in the booklet; they’re accessible via a QR code from the Somm Recordings website. I think that’s not unreasonable, especially since these particular texts are so readily available; most collectors will have many copies already.
I’m delighted that these three performances have been brought out from the archives and issued on CD in such good transfers. This second release in Somm’s ‘Bruckner from the Archives’ collection confirms the promise of the first set: this will be a series well worth following as the Bruckner bicentenary year progresses.
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