Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Symphony No. 8 in C minor (ed. Haas) (1887) 
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Wilhelm Furtwängler
rec. 15 March 1949, Titania Palast, Berlin.
Pristine Audio PASC729 [76]

Furtwängler is a divisive character in the world of classical music. His willingness to approach works with an open mind puts him at odds with the many later conductors who opted for a more straight and standardised approach. Even some of his contemporaries, such as Toscanini, had already begun to pioneer a more objective approach to the standard repertoire. He was certainly not a stickler for technical perfection in the same sense as Reiner or Szell, but bought a grandeur and depth to his interpretations that has gained him a special place in the pantheon of great conductors. 

Bruckner has never been one of my personal favourite composers. I respect these works, and they are, undoubtedly, great symphonies, but they can be rather heavy-going. Furtwängler though, with his unique ability to find the dramatic arc within the structure of these larger works, makes listening to this a captivating experience. It is music that requires time and concentration to get the most out of; there isn’t so much in ways of simple pleasures, but with a performance like this I can understand why some have such admiration for this composer’s profound, if long-winded, compositions. 

Three recordings of Furtwängler conducting this symphony are available: this recording from 15th March 1949, another recording from one day before, and a 1944 recording with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra which also has its advocates. All three exhibit similar qualities, and all will have their champions. Furtwängler is consistently moving, traversing the work with complete authority on each occasion. It’s wonderful to hear the rich string sonorities of both ensembles in the third movement, the two orchestras clearly inspired by the conductor to dig for as much resonance as possible. It is beautiful playing – and in fact, throughout this 1949 performance the commitment of the orchestra is noteworthy. They respond to Furtwängler’s direction with real fervour and great attention to the nuances of the music. There is power in the tuttis and real character in the individual lines. There are other great interpretations – Karajan comes to mind immediately, and Günter Wand, but, for me, this is the most satisfying of them all.

As for the sonics, Pristine reliably presents these old performances in better sound than elsewhere, in some cases quite remarkably so, and in other cases more subtly. Truthfully, I do not find this remastering to be remarkably better than others that I have sampled; there still remains an edginess to the sound, I don’t find it to be quite so miraculous as the work on his Ring cycle from La Scala, but it is an improvement still, more spacious and detailed with some of the sharp corners rounded off. Audience noise, and audible planes flying over (this was recorded during the Berlin Airlift) have been remedied as best they could be. Fans of Furtwängler, or of Bruckner, will want this.

Morgan Burroughs

Previous reviews: Ralph Moore & Paul Steinson