Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Bruckner from the Archives Volume 3
Symphony No 3 in D minor, WAB 103 (1878 Oeser Edition)
Symphony No 4 in E-flat major, WAB 104 ‘Romantic’ (1878/80 Haas Edition)
NDR Symphony Orchestra/Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt (3)
Munich Philharmonic/Volkmar Andreae (4)
rec. live, 12 December 1966, Musikhalle Hamburg (3); 16 January 1958, Herkulessaal, Munich (4)
SOMM Recordings Ariadne 5029-2 [2 CDs: 117]

This is the third instalment in SOMM’s projected six-volume series of archive recordings of the music of Anton Bruckner, many of them previously unissued. Volume 1 made for fascinating listening (review) and arguably Volume 2 was even more valuable (review). This instalment presents two performances which have not previously appeared on disc.

Benjamin Korstvedt, the author of the expert essays accompanying each release, justifiably entitles his essay for this present set ‘The Initial Breakthroughs’. As he discusses, the Third symphony initially met with resistance from the Viennese musical establishment; in both 1875 and 1877, the Vienna Philharmonic declined to programme the work in concert. However, a number of Bruckner’s friends rallied to his cause. The symphony achieved a first performance (not with the Vienna Philharmonic) in 1877 but was cooly received. Nothing daunted, in 1879 the composer’s supporters arranged publication not only of the full score but also of an arrangement for piano four-hands which was largely prepared by the young Gustav Mahler. Nonetheless, it was not until 1890 when Hans Richter led the Vienna Philharmonic in the first of two performances that the symphony achieved proper recognition. Inevitably, the work’s chequered history up to that point brought about a number of revisions, even after the score had been published. The performance included here uses an edition of the score, largely based on Bruckner’s 1879 version, which Fritz Oeser published in 1950.

The present performance is given by the NDR Symphony Orchestra under their chief conductor, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt (1900-1973). As Benjamin Korstvedt reminds us, Schmidt-Isserstedt led this orchestra from 1946 until 1971. Moreover, I learned that he and the orchestra gave the first performance of the Oeser edition shortly after its publication. Here, we can hear the partnership playing the symphony some sixteen years later. It’s a good account of the work. Schmidt-Isserstedt unfolds the first movement very convincingly; his pacing is spacious to just the right degree. I noted tiny occurrences of untidiness in the playing which betray that this is a live performance but overall, the orchestra plays very well as, indeed, is the case throughout the work. Schmidt-Isserstedt is just as persuasive in the Adagio. It seems to me that he understands the music very well and he invests it with nobility. I liked the way the music flows in an unforced fashion.

The Scherzo is very fast – though not excessively so; the orchestra gives a punchy rendition of the scherzo material. The Trio, which is like a folk-dance, is very nicely done. The finale can appear disjointed but Schmidt-Isserstedt knits the various episodes together very well. I enjoyed this performance – as did the audience to judge by the applause at the end – and I think it was well worth issuing. At the very start of the work, it seemed to me that the sound was somewhat bass-light. However, I soon adjusted and the 58-year-old aircheck of the original NDR broadcast has come up remarkably well.

The Fourth is conducted by Volkmar Andreae (1879-1962). I confess I knew very little about him but I learned from the booklet that he was music director of the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra in his native Switzerland for an astonishingly long time (1906-1949). Benjamin Korstvedt also tells us that he was a seasoned Bruckner conductor who, during his long career, led more than 250 performances of Bruckner symphonies. Korstvedt specifically references a complete cycle of the symphonies with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in early 1953, which was broadcast by Austrian Radio. I discovered that these performances were issued as a set by the Music & Arts label in 2010. I’ve not heard any of them but my colleague Jonathan Woolf found much to admire (review). I only discovered Jonathan’s review when I had finished my listening to this performance of the Fourth. In view of what I’m about to say, I think it’s pertinent to quote a couple of comments made by Jonathan. He gives this overall assessment of the cycle: “I would characterise Andreae’s conducting as unmannered, linear, strong, dramatic, crisp, devoid of hallowed sanctimony, and intensely vital. There is a powerful sense of a conductor whose reach extends from first to last, and who sees the symphonies as part of a continuum of architectural and expressive development. He neither inflates the earlier symphonies nor bloats the last ones; instead, he vests the music with a real sense of life-giving exultation, and whilst this summary might suggest that he thereby downplays the solemnity and gothic depth of the music, I would argue that this is not so. It has been an immensely valuable experience to listen to the canon under his direction.” He also adds this specific comment: “his Fourth may seem brisk when judged against some of his contemporaries’ performances, but it never sounds brusque.”

Andreae takes the start of the Fourth symphony as spaciously as I can recall hearing it. To be honest, I thought it was a bit too spacious. Out of interest, I selected as a random comparison Bernard Haitink’s 1965 Concertgebouw recording for Philips, in which he also uses the Haas version. Haitink is just a bit swifter than Andreae in this opening paragraph; the difference is not vast but it was sufficient for me to feel that Haitink invested the music with a bit more purpose. So, I settled back to experience what I imagined would be a broadly-paced traversal of the first movement from Andreae. I was completely unprepared, therefore, for the sudden and significant injection of pace during the first mighty orchestral tutti. As the movement progressed Andreae is consistent in treating each reprise of that tutti very quickly. Other passages, however, are paced with much more breadth. As time went by, I came to feel that his approach was wilful and I disliked the conductor’s tendency to step on the accelerator pedal every time a climax hove into view. The very end of the movement is also treated in this way and there, frankly, I found the effect vulgar. This frequently excitable reading of the movement was not greatly to my taste.

Thankfully, the slow movement is much more successful. I felt that Andreae’s pacing was neither too fast nor too slow. If that sounds like fence-sitting it’s not. Bruckner’s marking of Andante, quasi allegretto seems to invite such treatment. Andreae is flexible in his tempi but this time I think his approach is much more controlled than was the case in the preceding movement. That said, the movement’s grand climax (from around 12:00) is taken very spaciously and I felt this was rather out of proportion with what had gone before. The famous ‘hunting horn’ Scherzo is very lively while the Trio is played with affection.

Sadly, Andreae is back to his old tricks in the finale. The opening gets faster and faster and then the brakes are applied for the first big tutti, which is taken very broadly. During this movement, Andreae gives the impression that he feels the need to take a run up to every climax. His unwillingness – or inability? – to maintain a pulse is irritating, to put it mildly and, for me, it completely undermines the structure. He is the very antithesis of a conductor such as Haitink, whose patience in Bruckner I’ve always found very rewarding. Andreae is surefooted in the way he builds up to the symphony’s final peroration (from 15:40). These last pages are built patiently and with a proper sense of grandeur. At least Andreae left me with a positive impression at the end.

To be honest, I found that Volkmar Andreae’s way with the outer movements, and in particular, his marked tendency to rush his fences at climaxes, suggested a surprisingly superficial approach to Bruckner. However, that’s my subjective view; others may experience the performance differently. That’s why I thought it was important to highlight Jonathan Woolf’s view of Andreae’s Bruckner, especially since he had the opportunity to hear the conductor in all nine numbered symphonies. As I said, I haven’t heard any of those 1953 performances. Judged crudely by the stopwatch, I suspect Andreae’s 1953 account of the Fourth was not significantly different to this 1958 reading: in 1953 he took 60:29; this 1958 performance plays for 59:28.

All my reservations aside, it’s valuable to hear different approaches, such as Andreae’s, to Bruckner’s music though, for my taste, the Schmidt-Isserstedt account of the Third is the finer achievement of the two. The sound of the Bavarian Radio aircheck has come up well, giving a good representation of Andreae’s performance in which he benefits from good playing by the Munich Philharmonic.

As usual, Lani Spahr has done a fine job in restoring and remastering these two performances. Benjamin Korstvedt’s booklet essay is excellent; he’s an authoritative guide to the music. Unfortunately, I found it challenging to read his essay because it’s printed in a very small font – though it was worth persevering.

John Quinn

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