Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Symphony No. 8 in C minor (ed. Haas)
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Wilhelm Furtwängler
rec. live, 15 March, 1949, Titania Palast, Berlin. XR Remastering
Reviewed as 24-bit FLAC download
Pristine Audio PASC 729 [76]
Not for nothing has this recording jocularly been baptised by some of my acquaintance as “the tuberculosis edition”. Yes; the main obstacle to its appreciation has not been the antiquity of the sound – after all, Furtwängler’s even older (1944) Vienna Philharmonic recording has long been prized, and it is, as Andrew Rose’s notes tell us, “also a live performance, though one which appears to have taken place without an audience present, which this one certainly has.” No; it is of course the persistent loud hacking which blighted it; it had presumably been a long, cold winter in Berlin and lingering deprivations would hardly have enhanced the attendees’ immune systems. Not only that, but the Berlin Air Lift was also going on at the same time and the sound itself has been described as “somewhat hard and edgy, and in climaxes it breaks up and distorts badly” – all of which amounts to presenting the utmost challenge to Pristine’s expert restoration via the application of “digital audio restoration technology”. While it is not possible to remedy every blemish, Andrew Rose reckons that he has been able to expunge “perhaps 95% of the coughs audible in the original recording here”, leaving just “a few brutal offenders in place, where there would have been too much damage done to the musical content when coughs were removed, but overall this Bruckner Eight no longer sounds like a doctor’s waiting room during a bronchitis epidemic”, and much of the low-frequency engine noise. Otherwise, we have frequently heard in previous releases from this label how successfully Pristine’s XR remastering has been able to give new life to historic recordings, taming distortion and providing a sense of space.
All of which is a roundabout way of saying that this recording has never sounded anywhere near as good as it does now here. Some distortion and coughing are still detectible, and there is some faint tape print-though audible – at the end of the first movement, for example, plus some appalling hacking which Rose could obviously not doctor – especially if you listen on headphones, but it is distant and the compensations afforded by this remastering are manifold.
This is swift, taut performance of the Eighth Symphony using a “mixed Hass edition” Furtwängler prepared. From the off, it is suffused with a rapt, even menacing tension; even the element of screech in the violins adds to that sense of threat. Furtwängler is typically free and daring in his application of rubato and accelerando, and I love the way he phrases and caresses the lyrical second subject. His conducting is not of the steady, “granitic” approach; we are living and breathing a human drama as it unfolds and it is thrilling. It does not matter how many times I hear this symphony, regardless of the conductor’s interpretative stance is, if it is cohesive and coherent it always makes its mark. The opening of the Scherzo is very fast – in truth, probably to fast – and driven; the swirling strings almost struggle to keep up and the sound is clogged but the effect is arresting – then Furtwängler slows the pace dramatically before resuming a frenetic tempo for the conclusion. Like it or not, one thing is sure: there is never anything bland or routine about his direction; every bar oozes personality.
As was Furtwängler’s wont, the Adagio is likewise more propulsive than most, as he is clearly attentive to the “doch nicht schleppend” (but not dragging) marking, but hardly lacking in emotional weight; he keeps the emotional thumbscrews tightened such that the beauty of Bruckner’s surging phrases is always tempered by a sense of urgency and a yearning for the unattainable. Climaxes such as the first at 7:24 are overwhelmingly powerful, but there is delicacy, too, in the string tremolos and pizzicato and pauses are generous. Cymbal clashes are restricted in this edition to the one climax at 19:10 and the coda is serene. The finale is of course Furtwängler’s forte; it is massively persuasive. He accentuates the contrast between the fast marching theme and the singing, falling second subject then gradually ramps up the tension and the conclusion is simply magnificent.
The virtuosity of the BPO is remarkable for an orchestra drawn from a populace which had recently undergone so many deprivations; the power they generate at moments such as 13:15 is mightily impressive.
Yes; this is still a “historical” recording but every Brucknerian who loves this greatest of symphonies needs to hear it, especially now that it is so comprehensively rejuvenated by the Pristine treatment.
Ralph Moore
Availability: Pristine Classical
