Already blown away in my mid teens by the 8th, I soon after discovered the 9th Bruckner Symphony, which - for 50 years since - has remained one of my absolute favourite Romantic symphonies. It's sprawling, seemingly unquenchable momentum, and it's cathedral-like and majestic expansiveness constantly fill me with awe and wonderment. The inexorable truth and supremely 'palpable' structure, inches itself out in such glorious and incontestable logic; it is just magnificent to listen to as it unfurls from go to woe.
Over those past 50 years, I have searched for the performance that - for me - scales the true heights of the 9th, and Jochum almost gets there. I have all the Bruckner symphonies conducted by Jochum - amongst the best recordings available! Very few conductors have been able to conquer the summit of this Mt. Everest of symphonies, waylaying a little too long on this flower, that tree, those rocks, or the scenery on this particular side of the mountain. Rattle is amateurish, discarding structure in favour of his fanatical obsession for exquisitely beautiful detail, whilst the Russians for me have no idea how to play this Austrian giant, just sounding too granite-like.
For my tastes, Knappertsbusch is the greatest interpreter of Bruckner, very closely followed by Furtwangler. The latter may suit listeners more easily, as Knappertsbusch can be a smidge haphazard on the orchestral side of things. To be fair, he did not enjoy the recording techniques DDG offered to Furtwangler, nor the rank of orchestra as that of the BPO! He also hated studio recording, so his best Bruckner are his live performances, and this is where the occasional complaint of orchestral untidinesses can be elicited. But where Furtwangler gets a little turgid and structurally self-conscious, or indeed self-indulgent at times, Knappertsbusch is totally organic, seamlessly folding all the details into the massive structure, powering along with this composer like no other conductor. Just listen to his treatment of the 2nd movement, and you will quickly know what I’m talking about! Of the Bruckner/Knappertsbusch downloads available from the HDTT site here, lamentably none are of live performances. I would strongly recommend his LIVE 3rd, 4th, 5th 7th, 8th & 9th symphonies, which are - for me at least - to die for, especially his live 8th from 1963! Trust me, you’ll need seatbelts and oxygen masks for this performance!!
Gil Sullivan
DSD128 Direct Stream Digital Download
